The White Phantom
by invaderoperaghost
Summary: Erik begins to hear a voice. Unbeknownst to him, a phangirl from 2005 has invented a time machine in order to meet him, but things didn't turn out the way she had planned. Leroux based. Updated sporadically.
1. A Mysterious Voice

A/N: Hello! This story is one that I started months ago. I will probably only update it sporadically, as my main focus is on writing _The Story Seeker_. This is primarily Leroux-based. This sort of fits the idea of the phangirl suddenly appearing in Erik's lair, but in this story that phangirl was very much in control of her means of arrival, but things didn't quite turn out as she planned.

Anyway, please read, review, and enjoy!

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Nearly three weeks after Erik had sent Christine away with the Vicomte de Chagny, Erik was lying in his coffin waiting for death to take him at last. His unnaturally long, bony fingers were clutching his masterpiece, _Don Juan Triumphant_. Erik was looking around his room while he was waiting for death. He glanced at the red brocaded curtains that surrounded his coffin, and at the notes of the _Dies Irae_, which made up the border of his "bedroom." His glance then turned to the pipe organ which took up an entire wall of his room. He longed to play it one last time before he died, and thought that he may as well play a requiem for himself, as he was expecting to die shortly. However, painful memories of Christine consumed him, so he stopped. He even thought that he could hear her voice.

A moment later, he realized that he did hear a voice. However, it was not actually speaking. It seemed to be coming from inside his head. He then began to wonder if he had finally lost his grip on reality entirely. He could still hear the voice though. It was a soft and feminine voice, and it was quite high-pitched.

At first he could not discern any words, but eventually he could hear the voice calling, "Monsieur le Fantome? Erik?" After hearing this, he voiced his previous concern about his sanity or lack thereof. The voice answered him in a kind tone. "No, sir, you are not insane. At least, I don't think so. I mean, I am not merely a figment of your imagination. I am real; I am just not here physically."

The voices response angered Erik, and his voice thundered, "Who are you?"

The voice responded calmly, "I am not sure how to answer that question, but I am really here."

Now Erik was furious. He asked, "How is it that you are in my head, and how do you know my name?"

"Please, sir, try to calm down. This is very hard to explain, but I promise to show you later. For now, just remember that you are not alone. I do hope to see you at the masked ball. Farewell."

Then the voice was silent. Erik decided that he would consider going to the masked ball.


	2. The Masquerade

A week later, Erik went to the masked ball, dressed in his usual attire. He was wearing his black silk mask and evening wear, and he wore his fedora slightly tilted to the left. He saw no point in making a new costume when he did not plan on being seen. His stealth would prevent anyone from seeing him if he did not want them to see him.

Erik was not really quite sure why he had come to the masquerade anyway. He wanted to know if he had simply imagined the voice or if it was indeed real, as it said. He was also wondering why he hadn't died. After all, he had already told the daroga to announce his death in the _Epoque_.

Suddenly, Erik heard the voice in his head again. He looked around, and realized that the voice was probably coming from the figure on the staircase, as she was looking right at him. The voice said, "Bonsoir, Erik." Her costume was nearly identical to his except for the colors. With the exception of her mask, which was black as his was, her outfit was entirely white, so white that it seemed to reflect all of the light in the room. It was nearly blinding. She wore a white fedora, which she had tilted downward and slightly to the left. Erik could only see her right eye and the skin directly under it. The eye was bloodshot and there was a dark circle under it. All in all, she looked as though she had not slept in a while, and she seemed to be rather sad. Erik realized that no one else had heard her, so he used his ventriloquism to project his voice directly into her ear.

He asked, "Who are you?"

"I am Jennifer, the 'white phantom.'"

Erik suddenly became furious and yelled, "Are you mocking me?"

Jennifer answered calmly, "No. I just admire your style."

Although the crowd of people could not hear Jennifer's voice, they now noticed Erik. Someone shouted, "It's the opera ghost!" Suddenly, a drunken man crept up behind Jennifer and pulled off her fedora. The man saw a pair of bloodshot brown eyes glaring at him from behind a mask, which seemed to be floating in midair. He screamed and dropped the fedora.

For a minute, it seemed that everyone just stared at the "White Phantom." When the crowd started to approach her, she turned to Erik and pleaded, "Please, take care of my costume." Then she vanished as soon as she closed her eyes, leaving her outfit to collapse in a heap on the floor. Erik gathered up the clothing and faced the crowd with a maniacal grin before swirling his cloak around himself and vanishing.

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Please review!


	3. Inside my Mind

A/N: I'm sorry that this took so long. I _did_ say that I would update this sporadically...

Anyway, please read, enjoy, and don't forget to leave a review!

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Back in his lair five cellars below the opera house, Erik was playing on the pipe organ in nearly complete darkness; the room was lit only by a solitary candle and by the glow of his golden eyes. He had placed the "white phantom's" costume on a table.

He wondered about Jennifer for a while, until he got lost in his music. A while later, he realized that someone was behind him, so he instinctively pulled his Punjab lasso out of his cloak and closed it around a neck. As he heard bones snap, he turned around.

To his surprise, the figure behind him was staring back at him, occasionally blinking her bloodshot brown eyes, despite the fact that he had just broken her neck, and she should be dead, or at least in serious pain. The white phantom was staring at him, wearing the costume that he had put on the table. Now, however, he could see more than just her eyes. Judging by her neck, her skin was very pale.

Erik's observations were interrupted when he heard her voice in his head.

"Hi, Erik. You seem angry. You can vent your anger."

Erik was now shocked and furious. He tightened the noose and watched her eyes begin to bulge in pain.

After a minute that seemed much longer than it actually was, Erik relaxed and loosened the rope. Jennifer closed her eyes, and her neck disappeared! However, the Punjab lasso was still wrapped around the shape of a neck.

When she opened her eyes, her neck reappeared, completely unharmed; with it unkempt dark brown hair that almost seemed black in the darkness appeared to a length just below her shoulders.

She was at least a foot shorter than him, so she looked up at him as she said, in his head, "Do you feel better now?"

She smiled, which unnerved him. No one should be smiling after he punjabbed them!

Of course, no one should be _alive_ after he punjabbed them…

After a minute, he regained his composure and answered her. "I would feel much better if you would tell me who you are, how you know my name, and why my Punjab lasso didn't kill you, mademoiselle."

This time Jennifer took a moment before answering. "I told you who I am at the masquerade, and it is still true: I am Jennifer, the white phantom. That answers your last question, too. I am essentially a ghost, so I cannot be killed. As to how I know about you, that is a very long story."

Erik replied, still holding the rope, "You aren't going anywhere."

Jennifer nodded and said in his head, "I don't now how to put it into words, put perhaps I can show you. This may answer your first question a bit more, too.

Jennifer closed her eyes. Erik felt his eyes close, too.

When Erik opened his eyes, he was no longer in his lair. As he looked around for Jennifer, he observed that he appeared to be on some sort of street. He eventually spotted her in the distance. He caught up to her and asked her calmly, "Where am I?"

She hesitated and answered, "Inside my mind."


	4. Knowledge

A/N: This is the last complete chapter that I had written months ago. I had to rewrite all of the previous chapters from the way I had originally written them because I had originally based it primarily on the 2004 movie instead of on the original book. It will probably take me longer to update this in the future.

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Erik asked, "What, pray tell, am I doing inside your mind?" 

Jennifer responded, smirking, "You're awfully good at it." The smirk straightened, and as she nodded five buildings appeared.

Erik glanced at the signs on the door of each building: Dreams, Nightmares, Emotions, Knowledge, and Memories.

Jennifer said, "You can find the answers you seek in the Knowledge and Memories sections. Please don't enter the other three." Then she walked into the structure labeled "Dreams."

Erik didn't quite believe her, but he walked into the Knowledge building. As he entered, an inferno of white light surrounded him. He could see words swirling within the inferno, and he made his way to the area titled "Math." He saw many formulas and equations, as well as knowledge of geometry and algebra.

He moved on to the English area. She had a pretty impressive vocabulary for one who couldn't have been much older than 15. There were even words that he didn't recognize, such as "television" and "computer."

He traveled further to the title "History." He was shocked to see that there was a basic timeline going all the way to 2005 AD.

As he pondered how that could be so, he moved on to the next title, "Geography." He saw her mental map and noticed that it seemed to be relatively complete, especially when it came to the Americas and Europe but not so much regarding Africa and Central Asia, but that many of the borders and names were different than he knew them to be.

As he moved on to the next subject, his suspicions were confirmed; it was titled "Time-Travel." This knowledge seemed to be the most recently acquired.

Erik read through all of the information, especially the information on the effects that time-travelers experienced. There wasn't much information, but the information that was there was in excruciating detail, which made Erik believe that Jennifer must have either experienced or observed these effects firsthand.

Erik moved on to other sections. Next, he came to a section titled, "Latin." She seemed to have been studying Latin for at least a year, based on her Latin vocabulary and amount of knowledge of grammar and Roman culture and history.

Then he moved on to the section titled "Music." He saw that she seemed to have a basic knowledge of music. He saw some knowledge of musical terms, music theory, and sight-reading there, but her knowledge of music was not particularly extensive or thorough.

Erik saw many different titles relating to various sciences; the categories of biology, nanoscience, and chemistry seemed to contain the most knowledge, although she seemed to have some knowledge relating to other sciences as well.

Erik moved on to the subject titled "Other Languages." Erik saw that she only had minimal knowledge of French and of other languages. Erik smirked. Perhaps he could put this knowledge to good use later.

Suddenly, one subject caught Erik's eye, and the title surprised him. It was titled "Erik." He looked through her knowledge of him and was surprised to discover just how much she knew about him. One piece of information caught his eye; wherever she was from, he had many "phans."

Erik then decided to go over to the structure which housed her memories.


	5. Memories

A/N: I'm sorry that it has been so long since I last updated this. On the bright side, this chapter is much longer than the previous chapters. I did research for this chapter also. Erik would possibly know what about electric elevators, as the first one was invented in 1880. He would also know about records, which were invented in 1877.

Please, read, review, enjoy, and have a great holiday season!

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As Erik entered the memory building, he saw a girl with light-brown shoulder-length hair and blue eyes who was shorter than Jennifer sitting at a mahogany desk that said "Reception" in golden lettering. The room appeared to be a lobby of some sort, as there was a sofa and several comfortable-looking chairs arranged neatly over a lavish green rug. The girl greeted him, and said, "Hello. I am Jennifer's friend, Anna. Or rather, I am a projection of Jennifer's memory of her friend Anna, as the real Anna is currently across the Atlantic Ocean and forward 124 years. At any rate, you must be Erik. Jennifer used to talk about you all the time. We would always argue about your goodness or badness, your circumstances, your sanity or lack of it, and other such things, and she would always argue from your side. But you have not come here to talk to me, have you?" 

Erik said, "No, I have not. I am here to watch her memories."

Anna nodded and said, "Then please have a seat in the lobby, and I'll have the viewing elevator prepared." Erik sat down on the sofa, and she pushed a button on the desk. Erik waited in silence for a few minutes, contemplating what he had already learned about Jennifer, until Anna said, "The room is ready now. Please proceed to the elevator."

Erik stood and approached the elevator. Although he had read about elevators, this one looked significantly more advanced than anything that he had heard about. When he entered the lift, he saw that the wall to his left was covered entirely by some sort of screen, and the wall to his right had some sort of control panel. Opposite the entrance was another pair of doors. As soon as he stepped into the center of the elevator, the doors closed behind him. He walked to the control panel and pushed a green button which was inscribed with an arrow and was marked "Play."

Suddenly, an image came on the screen. It was blurry at first, but soon he could see Jennifer's memories displayed on screen. He watched her early memories with little interest. He could tell that she was a fairly intelligent child.

He began to watch with much more interest when the screen displayed memories from January of her freshman year in high school. She was watching a movie that seemed to be _very_ loosely based on his recent experiences. He could tell from her memories that the movie and its music had left her speechless and completely enthralled her. That night, she found the original cast recording on a record and listened to it, even more enchanted. Then, he saw her use some sort of machine with a screen to read the book that was based on his life. Later, she received the original cast recording in some other format that Erik didn't recognize, but that he observed was shiny and circular, for her fifteenth birthday later that month, and she went to see the movie again. He could tell that she was on the road to becoming obsessed with his story and with him.

Then he saw her memories of school. She seemed to excel at every academic subject, and she seemed to enjoy science the most. She had friends, but she didn't seem to be comfortable around people in general. Over time, this only grew worse.

By the time she was halfway through tenth grade, this problem had developed to the point that she would get nauseous whenever she was in crowds or if she thought that people were watching her. One night, the problem was especially bad.

Instead of being placed in the choir that she had been in the previous year, she was placed in a swing choir. She loved to sing, but she loathed dancing, and she hated the dresses that they wore, because she was very modest. These dresses didn't even go down to her knees and left her shoulders and part of her back bare, and they made her feel very uncomfortable and vulnerable. However, she didn't want to leave the class, as it would completely wreck her schedule to do so, and she did enjoy the class sometimes. After all, it was a small class, and the other students were quite nice to her.

However, the night of their holiday concert, she wasn't quite sure what had happened. Despite her usual nervousness around people, she hadn't really experienced stage fright before. This performance was different. As soon as she stood on the risers and saw the audience she felt very queasy. Her nausea lasted for about twenty-four hours afterwards, and she couldn't help crying afterwards, when she felt that no one would see her. She had felt like everyone was laughing at her. Somehow, her thoughts turned to Erik, and she suddenly had an epiphany as to how she could construct a time machine in order to meet him. Fighting her nausea, she began working on it the very next day.

By January, she had completed it. When she activated it and stepped into it, however, the results were not as she had expected. She was floating through a tunnel, surrounded completely by a whirlpool. She could see all of the events of the past swirling around her, but she realized that she did not know how she would leave the whirlpool of time. She saw the time period that she was looking for, the early 1880's, and struggled to reach the walls of the whirlpool. She eventually found the place (or rather, the time) where (when?) Erik was. She tried to enter it, but she could not entirely get in. She suddenly felt an unbearable pain. However, now she could see Erik. She watched all of his time with Christine before she was finally able to figure out how to enter. She realized that she no longer had a corporeal form, even though she could still see herself, or thought that she could. It was all an illusion!

She tried to change something about herself. She tried changing her clothing by thinking about it, and it worked. She now knew how to get to Erik. She would have to project herself using her mind. After seeing this, Erik figured out the rest, and Erik saw that the rest of her memories corresponded with recent events. He left the elevator and walked out of the memories building.


	6. Questions

As Erik left the memories building, he saw that Jennifer had just exited the structure labeled "Dreams." Her eyes seemed to have tears in them, although they now looked much less bloodshot than they were before. She asked him, "Have you learned what you wish to learn?"

"Mostly, but your memories and knowledge offer more questions that I need answers to. In one of the categories of your knowledge, 'phans' were mentioned. Who exactly are 'phans'?"

Jennifer hesitated for a moment before answering, "Gaston Leroux wrote a book about you in the early twentieth century. Many other books were written based on that book, as well as several musicals and many movies. Your 'phans' are people who have seen or read these and admire you. Are you ready to go back to reality now?"

Erik nodded curtly. Jennifer closed her eyes and Erik's eyes shut involuntarily. When he opened them, he was back in his lair, still holding onto the rope.

He heard Jennifer ask if he could release her now, but he said, "No, mademoiselle. I am not yet ready to release you." Having said that, he applied just enough pressure on her neck with the Punjab lasso to render her unconscious, and then carried her into the Louis-Philippe room. He placed her on the divan and went to go write a note to the management. He had been remiss in his duties as the Opera Ghost of late, and he thought that now was as good a time as any to resume fulfilling them.

After he had written the notes, he went to compose softly on the piano. After what had seemed like only a few minutes but had actually been a few hours, Erik began to hear the sound of someone writing coming from the Louis-Philippe room.

He entered the room and saw that Jennifer had regained consciousness and was writing a note using blue ink. Erik had no idea how she had gotten it, as he didn't keep any blue ink in his home. He saw her seal the note inside an envelope, and wondered also where she had gotten her seal.

Erik's thoughts were interrupted when Jennifer spoke. "Hello, Erik. I noticed the letters you are carrying. Would you deliver this to the management for me as well?"

Erik nodded and said, "Very well, mademoiselle, but I shall have many more questions for you when I return, so I would suggest that you rest."

Jennifer nodded, and Erik started walking towards the trap-door that led to the managers' office.

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	7. Notes

When Erik arrived at the managers' office, he opened the trap-door and left the notes on the managers' desk. He heard footsteps, so he hid under the trap-door and closed it carefully. From his hiding spot, he saw M. Richard and M. Moncharmin enter the room. He smirked at their reactions upon discovery of the letter written in red ink.

M. Richard said angrily, "The ghost gave us our money back! What does he want now?"

M. Moncharmin sighed, opened the envelope, and said, "He informs us that he is back from his vacation and that he is ready to resume his position as the opera ghost. He demands that we continue to reserve box five for his use and that we resume paying him is salary 'in the usual manner.'"

M. Richard grabbed the letter and read it for himself. "Why would he want his salary now, after he returned our money to us?"

"I haven't the slightest idea, but we really can not afford another tragedy."

"Are you suggesting that Chagny wasn't crazy, and that the ghost was responsible for that tragedy as well?"

"I'm not suggesting anything of the sort, but we know that that time before the chandelier crashed, and we heard his voice in box five. We can't afford to have to replace the chandelier again."

By this time, Erik could hardly contain his laughter. Then, M. Richard noticed the other note. Noting that it was written in blue ink, he said, "Thank goodness it's not from O.G. But I don't recognize the handwriting."

He passed the envelope to M. Moncharmin, who remarked, "The handwriting is childish enough to be O.G.'s, but you're right. It's certainly not his."

"Well, let's open it and see!"

M. Moncharmin opened the envelope and read the letter. His eyes widened and he said, "This is interesting." He passed it to M. Richard, who had a similar reaction.

"We have _another_ ghost!"  
"Apparently, but this one not only doesn't demand 20,000 francs a month, _she_ is willing to actually pay to have a box permanently reserved for her use."

"This ghost said that she is willing to have a meeting to discuss the terms?"

"Yes. This says that she wants to arrange an appointment later this week. Do you think that we should meet with her?"

"We could certainly use the money now that O.G. is back."

Erik decided that he had heard enough and started the descent back to his house. When he arrived, he went straight to his room and played his masterpiece on the organ. A while later, Erik remembered that Jennifer was still in the Louis-Philippe room.

He went into the Louis-Philippe room and saw that his music had had a great effect on Jennifer. She was sitting in a corner of the room in the fetal position, shaking terribly, with tears rolling down her cheeks.

Erik approached her and smirked, "Good afternoon, mademoiselle. You will answer my questions now."

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I have made a topic in my forum where you could discuss this story if you wish. Please leave a review to let me know what you think! 


	8. The Siren

I updated this more quickly this time! Hooray! The bad news is that this chapter is really short.

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Jennifer turned to look at him and nodded weakly. Erik could tell that she was still crying silently and that her eyes looked redder than usual.

Erik smirked again and started to ask her questions about the future, her past, and the letter that she had written to the managers. She answered his questions the best that she could.

By the time the interrogation was over, Jennifer seemed to be thoroughly tired, and Erik was smirking triumphantly about the new information that he had gained.

Erik left the room so that she could rest and pondered all that he had discovered. Many of the questions that he had asked her were about the future, and she answered and explained his questions to the best of her ability. He went to the organ and played a softer, gentler song for a while.

He was interrupted by the sound of the electric bell that warned him that someone was on the lake. Erik grabbed the reed that would allow him to breathe and sing under water. When he reached the shore of the lake, he tore off his mask, placed the reed in his mouth, and jumped into the water.

Immersed in his role as the siren, he began to sing and, when he reached the row boat, he capsized it and started to pull the intruder under the water.

He snapped out of it when he noticed the intruder's long blonde hair. He carried his victim to the shore.

He began to panic when he got a better look at the intruder's face.

_Christine?

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Please review! 


	9. Awakening

Jennifer was sitting on the divan in the Louis-Philippe room attempting to recuperate from hearing Erik play _Don Juan Triumphant_. It was amazing! It was so amazing, in fact, that it overwhelmed her. It was too poignant, powerful, and unlike anything that she had ever heard to not drive her over the edge.

Despite how overwhelmed she felt, she was still glad that she had heard it. She had heard him play his masterpiece. She no longer had to rely on speculation about what his opera was like. She had heard it for herself! Even though she was still shaking terribly and crying silently, she somehow felt a sense of calm.

Suddenly, Erik walked in carrying a girl with blonde hair who was thoroughly drenched. Jennifer realized that this girl must be Christine, and, recalling the part of the book about the siren and remembering that she had heard an electric bell ring only a little while before, she pieced together what had happened.

Without even noticing Jennifer, Erik placed Christine gently on the mahogany bed and began caring for her to make certain that she could breathe now and that no water had gotten into her lungs.

After he was certain that she would be all right, he made sure that she would be as comfortable as possible. Then he noticed Jennifer.

She appeared to be concerned about Christine's condition, although she still seemed to be in a confused and troubled state from hearing his music. He decided to offer her a cup of tea. She accepted his offer with an awkward nod, and he prepared a cup for her. He handed the cup to her and then went to watch Christine while Jennifer drank her tea.

Jennifer began to calm down, and eventually fell asleep on the divan. A little while later, Christine regained consciousness. She seemed understandably disoriented as her eyes fluttered open and she asked, "Erik? What…what happened? I thought…I mean, the Époque said…how did I get here?"

"You were on the lake and the siren brought you here."

"Erik, the Époque said that you were…you were…"

"Dead? Yes, I know it did. I fully expected to be dead by now."

"I came back as I promised, but you are not dead." Christine looked very confused. She examined her surroundings and saw the strangely dressed girl with disheveled hair lying on the divan. She asked, "Erik, who is that girl?"

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I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter. Please leave a review to let me know what you think and feel free to check out my forum.


	10. Ink and Answers

I am sorry that it's beenabout a monthsince I last updated. I've been verybusy lately and I wasn't sure exactly where totake this chapter.

The Klingon Language Institute's website washelpful to me in this chapter.

Also, I am assuming thatErik is left-handed. Although I don'tbelieve that it is specificallystated inLeroux's novel, it would account for many things. For example, I know from my personal experience as a left-hander thatit isharder to write neatly when you are left-handedina language that goes from left to right because the ink smears. Anyway, that's part of my justification for making Erik left-handed.

The other part of my justification is from The Left-Hander's Handbook. Many serial killers have been left-handed. Jack the Ripper is one example. Also, many talented musicians and artists are left-handed: Leonardo daVinci, Jimi Hendrix, Paul McCartney, and many more. Also, left-handedness supposedly helps with spatial perception, which would help with designing buildings. I'm not sure how true that is, but that's what the book said.

Anyway, please enjoy this chapter and please leave a review to let me know what you think.

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Erik paused for a moment, trying to find a suitable answer to Christine's question. He eventually answered, "Her name is Jennifer. She is apparently trying to become a financial supporter of my opera house."

"Why is she here?"

"Apparently, she had heard of me and wanted to talk to me."

"She isn't dressed like a normal girl."

"No, I suppose she isn't. She is from America. Perhaps that has something to do with it."

Christine seemed satisfied with this response, but then she asked, "Erik, why is she asleep here?"

"I gave her some tea. It had something in it to make her fall asleep. It wasn't particularly strong, though; I expect her to wake up shortly."

Just as Erik said the words, Jennifer began to stir. Her eyes opened, and Erik noticed that they looked slightly less bloodshot and that the dark circles under her eyes, although still present, didn't look quite as dark as they did before. Her own black mask was slightly askew from the position in which she had been sleeping, but it still covered her face completely. She yawned and said in Erik's head, "Good morning. I haven't slept that long since I left my home."

Christine turned to Erik, alarmed, "Why is she talking in my head?"

Erik realized that Jennifer was talking in both of their heads and demanded that she explain why. She said, this time only in Erik's head, "It would take quite a bit of mental energy to materialize my vocal chords. I don't really have enough energy to do so at the moment, and the effort would be wasted, anyway. I don't know French."

"Then how did you write to the managers?"

"I used a special type of ink. I invented the ink in my mind and materialized it. It took a lot of my energy, which is probably on reason why I was so vulnerable to your music when you returned." She looked at the floor as she said this. Christine looked completely perplexed.

Jennifer continued talking in Erik's head. "The ink automatically translates my thoughts into the language of my choice the moment I touch it to the paper, much as when I speak directly into people's minds, my voice is translated into a language that is comfortable to the listener. If you would like, I could make you some of the ink, in red, of course."

Erik nodded, and Jennifer closed her eyes. Erik began to explain what was going on to Christine so that she wouldn't be as frightened when ink seems to appear out of nowhere. Jennifer got up from the divan and found one of Erik's empty containers of ink. Suddenly, the container began to fill with a crimson-colored liquid. She handed the container to Erik and collapsed on the divan in a semi-conscious state.

Erik got up from his chair and found a piece of parchment. When he put the ink to the page, he wasn't quite certain which language to try. He wanted to try a language that he had no knowledge of whatsoever, but he couldn't think of one. He had learned how to write at least a little bit in every language that he had been acquainted with.

Suddenly, he heard Jennifer's voice in head, much weaker than it had been before but in a slightly amused tone. "Try Klingon."

Erik had no idea what "Klingon" was, but he thought about what he wanted to write and, indeed, as soon as he had figured out what he wanted to say, his hands automatically penned some strange-looking characters. They went from left to right, but he had no idea how to tell whether or not it was actually working, as he had never heard of the language.

He focused on the same message and decided to write it in Russian. After his left hand automatically wrote the message, he read over it. It was accurate. Her invention worked.

He turned to Christine, who still looked terribly confused about everything she had seen. Erik said, "Is anyone waiting for you above? I could take you back now, as I am not dead and so you will have to come another time to fulfill your promise to me."

Christine nodded. This was a decidedly odd day.


	11. In the Managers' Office

I have good news! I've finally figured out how I want this story to end. It's still quite a ways away, but I have an idea now.

I mentioned Russian in the last chapter because it seemed highly likely that Erik would know the language as he performed in "the fair of Nijni-Novgorod" and claimed that he took wine "from the Konigsberg cellars." I am fairly certain that both places are in Russia, so it seems safe to assume that Erik would know Russian.

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After Jennifer regained her energy, she decided that it was time to pay a visit to the managers. However, Erik had not yet returned and, despite having read the book, she was not any more apt at finding Erik's invisible doors than Christine had been in the book. Jennifer knew that would essentially be trapped in Erik's house until he chose to release her.

Of course, she could just dematerialize herself, but she knew that she didn't have the energy to do that, materialize a new set of clothing, and rematerialize herself. So, of course, she decided to wait for Erik to return so that she could leave.

In the meantime, she decided that she should explore the Louis-Philippe room. She looked at every decoration and examined every detail of the room. When she was finished exploring, she sat down and the divan and rested until Erik returned.

She managed to fit in a fifteen-minute nap before Erik returned. He came in through one of the invisible doors, and she sat up drowsily. She asked, "Will you take me to see the managers?"

"Perhaps I will, but first I would like to see more of your abilities. What else can you materialize?"

Jennifer replied in his head. "Anything I like, but it requires a great deal of effort."

"Matter cannot be created. How do you 'materialize' these objects?"

"I'm not sure exactly how it works. I think I'm just transferring it from somewhere else, I'm not sure of where exactly."

Erik nodded. "Do you think you could manage to materialize a Punjab lasso?"

Jennifer nodded. "I'll try." She closed her eyes and focused on it, trying to use as little energy as possible. It took her a bit longer than usual, but, eventually, she opened her eyes and the Punjab lasso appeared on the floor at her feet. Erik picked it up, examined it, and, satisfied, placed it within his cloak.

Erik nodded and said, "I will take you to the managers' office now."

When they finally reached the end of the long series of passageways leading to the managers' office, Erik helped Jennifer reach the trap-door, as he had built it to suit his height and she was significantly shorter than him.

After Jennifer had gone into the manager's office, Erik stayed to find out what Jennifer wanted.

M. Moncharmin and M. Richard were in the office and were shocked to see Jennifer enter, seemingly out of nowhere. Jennifer said directly into both of their heads, (and apparently into Erik's as well, although its message clearly wasn't directed at him), "I'm sorry for arriving here without an appointment and without much notice, but I wanted to discover your response to my letter."

The managers looked at each other, exchanging glances that clearly meant, "Did you hear that?"

Jennifer smiled. "I am not a figment of your imaginations. You needn't worry."

M. Richard said, "What do you want?"

Jennifer said, "I simply want a box to haunt, preferably one close to Box Five. I'm willing to pay 20,000 francs a month for its use, and to dwell in this building."

M. Moncharmin said, "Would O.G. tolerate having another ghost in this opera house?"

Erik used his skills in ventriloquism so that his voice would fill the room. He said, "I would allow _this_ ghost to stay in my domain, messieurs. She is no threat to my authority."

Erik smirked. His response had left the managers speechless.

Erik said, "And perhaps when I give you my latest demand, you will be more willing to accept her patronage. You see, I believe that a little raise is in order. I think an additional five-thousand francs in my monthly allowance seems reasonable, doesn't it, gentlemen? After all, anymore 'accidents' and you may find yourselves in some trouble."

At that threat, the managers could only nod and sigh in resignation. M. Richard turned to Jennifer, "I don't suppose you could be obliged to pay us this month's rent in advance."

Jennifer nodded, "That won't be a problem." She closed her eyes, and Erik knew that she was materializing the money. This time, however, something was different.

Her extravagant white outfit was replaced by the tattered remnants of an overly large black t-shirt and black dress pants. She seemed to be trapped in some sort of green substance that looked very similar to gelatin. Her face was no longer masked, but instead seemed to be as white, as smooth, and as fragile as porcelain. Her eyes were more bloodshot than ever, her hair was even more tangled and unkempt, and the dark circles under her eyes made her look more tired than usual.

This all happened in a second or two, and then her attire and appearance was back to the way it was before. Her face was again covered by a black mask, and she was once again wearing a white suit, cape, and fedora. The managers appeared to have not even seen this strange occurrence, and accepted the money that she handed them. Examining it carefully, they determined that it appeared to be quite genuine.

Jennifer then asked, "May I have a key to the box now, messieurs?"

They nodded, retrieved the key, and handed it to her. She left the room through the main door and proceeded to her new box.


	12. A Visit to the Box

Erik stayed in his hiding place and listened to the managers' discussion of the new patroness. M. Richard declared, "That ghost is decidedly odd."

M. Moncharmin agreed. "Why was she wearing trousers, anyway? Oh well. We really need the money now that O.G. is back."

M. Richard nodded. Erik started moving away from the managers' office. He traveled through his hidden passageways to the box where Jennifer was staying.

He entered the passageway directly above the box and looked into the box. Jennifer was sleeping on one of the red chairs. She was using her white cloak as a blanket and her mask was slightly askew. Erik slipped into the box and said softly, with a slight touch of amusement in his voice, "Mademoiselle?"

Her eyes immediately snapped open. They were still slightly blood-shot. Jennifer looked thoroughly exhausted. She asked, "Monsieur? Why are you here?"

"I wished to speak to you, and to see how you are faring in your new home."

"Thank you for coming. I'm really very exhausted. I wanted to materialize some new furniture, but I'm just too tired, so it will have to wait until tomorrow. What did you want to talk to me about?"

Erik smirked. "Are you aware that the managers are quite befuddled because you are wearing trousers instead of a dress?"

Her blood-shot eyes widened. "I…I hadn't really thought about that. Many women wear pants in my time. I never wore a dress unless I absolutely had to."

She frowned. "But I probably should wear one now, instead of pants, shouldn't I?"  
"Perhaps. Women do in this time."

Jennifer nodded. "Then I will have to materialize one later, after I rest. Would you like anything to eat or drink?"  
"No, I wouldn't." As Erik said that, Jennifer materialized a bowl of broccoli and cheese soup and a spoon and began eating.

Erik said, "When you materialized the money that you gave to the managers, why did your outfit change, and what was that green substance surrounding you? And why didn't the manager's notice it at all?"

Although her face, like his, was obscured by a black mask, Erik could tell that she paled considerably and lost whatever small amount of color her skin contained at his questions. She asked, "Would you like to sit down? My explanations may take some time."

Erik declined. Perhaps she was intimidated by the fact that he was about a foot taller than her?

Jennifer nodded. "All right. Then I'll try to explain it. I wasn't sure that you had seen, but I can figure out why. What you saw was how I really am now, in the tunnel between times. That substance is trapping me to this time period. I don't know what it is, exactly, but it might be what allows me to materialize objects here. But I haven't had a chance to test that, as my movement in the whirlpool is quite limited. Anyway, the reason that you saw me, as best as I can figure it out, is that, well, the way I look here is basically an illusion. I can control it to some degree, by focusing on it and using my mental energy. When I materialize objects, I use more mental energy and it takes more energy for me to maintain the illusion of my appearance."

She continued, "Also, there is a capacity for my illusion, which is dependent on the intelligence of those to whom I project the illusion. My illusion will fail to work on the person with the highest IQ if the sum of the IQs of the people around me exceeds thrice my own IQ. I also can get a general sense for the IQ of the people around me, and for my own. Mine is somewhere in between 125 and 135. Yours is harder to detect for me than most people's IQs. I can only detect that it is in the range of genius and quite higher than mine. The managers are both in the average range; their particular IQs are somewhere between 100 and 110. However, because you were there, the sum of the IQs of the people around me exceeded my limit, and I could not completely control the illusion of my appearance. I think that answers your questions sufficiently."

Erik gave a slight nod. "Yes. I believe that is ample explanation. I will depart now, then."

"Very well. Goodbye."

"Farewell." Having said that, Erik went back through the passageway to his home, pondering what she had said.

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Please leave a review to let me know what you think! 


	13. A Plea for Help

One week later, rehearsals for _Don Giovanni_ were underway. Erik was watching from inside the hollow pillar in Box Five, as was usual during rehearsals, and he knew that Jennifer was in the adjacent box, although she pretty much always had the curtains closed.

Erik jotted down notes on and criticisms of the performances of various performers. It wasn't until after the rehearsal that Erik saw the note addressed to him.

It was in Jennifer's signature blue ink, and he could tell that she had used her translating ink, as the note was written in French. Slipping quickly from the column, he grabbed the note.

He went back into the pillar and read the note. Jennifer had apparently just finished the renovation of her box and this note was an invitation for him to visit.

Erik decided that perhaps he should drop by her box, if only to see if she had come up with any new inventions or to get a chance to observe her strange powers.

He went through the column into his passageway above the boxes until he reached her box. Looking down into the box, Erik immediately saw the changes that Jennifer had made; all of the furniture was now the same blinding white as her outfit. She had installed a kitchen area with a gas stove, some counter space, a small refrigerator, and some sort of rectangular box that had buttons, a window, and a handle on the edge of the window.

Jennifer was lying on her new white bed on the other side of the box, covered up to the neck by a white comforter, sleeping peacefully.

Erik slipped into the box, and Jennifer drowsily began to stir. Erik noted that she had replaced the suit she had worn before with a simple, modest dress of the same glaring hue. The dress was not the most stylish, but at least there would no longer be any sort of scandal as there would be if she were to wear trousers.

Jennifer stood up and said, directly into Erik's head, as usual, "Welcome. Would you like a tour?"

Erik said that he would, as he didn't know what some of the devices were and he was rather curious.

Jennifer began with the kitchen, and Erik asked her what the peculiar box was. Realizing what he was talking about, she said, "Oh, that's a microwave oven. It cooks food much faster than a conventional oven. I think it was invented in the 1940's."

"How exactly does it work?"

"I don't know exactly how to explain it. It uses radiation to cook the food. I think most of the research into radiation is still a while away from this time."

"I saw 'radiation' in your knowledge. Will you show me how it is used?"

"Of course." She reached into a small cabinet and grabbed a bag. Grabbing the handle and opening the "window," she placed the bag in the microwave and said, "I can't eat this, because of my braces, but you can if you want."

"Braces?"

"I believe that the idea of braces just came up for the first time about a year ago. They're used for straightening teeth and correcting overbites. I've had mine for almost five years, and I was going to get them off sometime this summer, I think."

She hit some of the buttons and set the time. She said, "Anyway, this will take a few minutes to finish cooking. Would you like to see the rest of my box?"

Erik nodded. Jennifer showed him her bookcases and her writing desk, and by the time she had shown him the rest of her box, the microwave oven made a beeping noise. Jennifer opened the "window" and grabbed the bag. Opening it, she offered it to Erik, saying, "It's popcorn."

Erik accepted the bag but, not able to eat with his mask on and not wanting to take his mask off, he said, "I will try it after I leave."

Jennifer nodded. "All right. Erik, I need your help. I have a serious problem."

Erik asked, "What is wrong?"

"Do you remember the three 'buildings' in my mind that I didn't want you to enter?"

"Yes, the Dreams, Nightmares, and Emotions buildings. Why?"

"Do you also remember the green substance that is trapping me here?"

"Of course."

"I have found out that the green substance works through my nightmares. As a result, my nightmares are spreading into the other parts of my mind, particularly into the Emotions building. I believe that this is why everything I do takes so much more energy than it usually would. I feel so drained, and resting only can recover so much of my energy, as the nightmares, empowered by the green substance, interfere with my sleep. I cannot fight against the green substance alone any longer, and the nightmares are creeping into other parts of my mind. I fear that I will continue to grow weaker and weaker, eventually leading to my death, unless the problem is stopped and I can get home, to my own time somehow. But the nightmares must be stopped before that can happen, and I am practically powerless against them. I need your help."

"Why should I help you?"

"If you help me, you can have complete access to my mind in its entirety and all of the information that it holds, and after I am well, I could perhaps show you how to build a time machine."

Erik nodded. "That is acceptable, but how would I help you?"

"As I explained once before, your intelligence is far beyond mine. I believe that you would have certain powers and abilities while inside of my mind that you don't have here, and that your powers would be stronger than mine, augmented by your intellect. These powers may be sufficient to stop the Nightmare section of my mind from corrupting the other segments."

"I will help you, then."

"Very well. Thank you, Erik."

She closed her eyes, and Erik was once again inside her mind.

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I'm sorry that it took so long for me to write this chapter. I had some trouble writing this chapter and figuring out exactly where to go with the story (I know the ending, just not how to get there), and that in addition to a long vacation and plenty of summer homework. So, I hope that you enjoyed this chapter, and that you will review.(I appreciate reviews very much.)Thank you.


	14. Nightmares

Erik was taken aback by how much the structure of her mind had changed. The neat organizational buildings all, with the exception of the Knowledge and Memory and buildings, were covered with the green gelatin-like substance and were in ruins. All manner of bizarre green creatures seemed to be patrolling the area, and others were laying siege to the two buildings that were still intact.

Wondering about Jennifer's suggestion that perhaps he would have supernatural abilities while inside of her mind, he decided to try it out before approaching one of the strange creatures.

Extending his left hand, he focused and saw that a spurt of fire rushed from it. When he lifted his right hand, water burst forth from his hand and put out the fire. He placed one hand on the ground and focused on it, and then as he removed it a beautiful rose grew up. Fascinated by what he had seen so far, he approached one of the green blob-like creatures when it was alone.

Focusing his mind on it, he could tell that it was not a particularly bright creature. But perhaps it was capable of speech?

Erik questioned it, "What are you doing here?"

To his surprise, it could indeed speak. Its voice was infantile and weak, but it was comprehensible.

"We all have orders to destroy."

"Destroy? Why?"

"We have orders to destroy."

"Yes, so I've been told… but is there any particular reason why you are destroying this girl's mind?"

"They are the orders… she has trespassed and is not of this time. No one cares about her here. She should return to where she came from, to where people care about her."

Erik pondered this. He had treated her coldly, but he realized that he was starting to warm up to the girl, to the point where if she perished or disappeared back to her own time without saying goodbye, he would miss her. He was fascinated by her, of course, and most of his actions towards her had been directed by his curiosity and his insatiable appetite for knowledge. He did have to admit that he cared for her well-being though. He had felt inclined to accept her plea for help before hearing what she offered in return, but retained his persona and asked what he would get out of it anyway.

After thinking about all of this, he addressed the creature again. "I care about her."

"Do you? Then I'm afraid you'll have to take your complaint to my supervisor."

"And where might I find your supervisor?"

"He is currently in the ruins of the girl's Nightmare structure."

Erik sneered, "Thank you for your assistance…"

As he reached the ruins of the Nightmare building, he entered with slight apprehension.

Where her Knowledge building had been a swirl of brilliant white, this was a black tornado or disturbing imagery. He saw all sorts of tortures and horrendous crimes swirling about in that whirlwind. The noise that surrounded him was so deafening, he could scarcely think. It was a cacophony of torment, and it all existed within this young girl's nightmares…

Steeling himself against the infernal noise and the horrors that encircled him, Erik approached the gargantuan green creature in the middle of the cyclone.

As he reached it, he called out, "Why must you torment this girl?"

The giant answered, "She does not belong here. No one here cares about her fate here..."

"I care about what happens to her."

"You do? Well, does she know that?"

"No, I don't think she does… but I wouldn't be here trying to help her if I didn't care for her at all."

"If you care for her fate, as you say, then you will be able to save her. But to do so you must be able to destroy me and all of my minions. Do you accept this challenge?"

"Yes, I do. I wouldn't be here if I didn't…"

"Very well, then…"

After saying that, the giant swung at Erik with a gigantic arm. Erik barely evaded the blow, jumping out of the way just in the nick of time.

He pulled out his Punjab Lasso, the one that Jennifer had materialized for him. Using his expert aim, he threw it so that it landed around the giant's neck. The lasso enlarged as he focused on it in the air and tightened when he wanted it to. Erik used the rope to swing up to right behind the creature's head. Placing his left hand directly onto the back of its neck, he shot fire right through it. The creature gave out a tremendous wail and fell a long way to its knees. Erik shot fire through its head once again, this time killing it.

After he removed the rope from the creature's neck, the giant vanished, leaving Erik astonished. His astonishment became pleased amazement when he saw that the walls of the Nightmare building had begun to reconstruct themselves, seemingly of their own accord, albeit slowly.

Then, he heard that familiar voice in his head, and was pleased when he could tell that it was full of gratitude. "Thank you, Erik. I feel as though I'm beginning to recover. Please… go to the Emotions area next…"

Erik nodded, moving towards the ruins of the next building. He felt a strange sense of satisfaction from helping to save this girl's mind…


	15. Emotions

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, everyone! Please review, and I'll try to get another chapter up next month.

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As Erik entered the battered Emotions building he saw that it was again in the form of a swirling inferno, but this one was in a variety of colors. He saw the red of anger, the green of envy, the darkness of fear, the blue of sadness, the yellow of joy, and myriad other hues for myriad other feelings. He saw that there were many odd, small creatures wreaking havoc but realized that they alone could not be the cause of the damage. He realized that there must be something else… but what?

He decided to take out some of the creatures he saw there anyway so that at least they couldn't cause any more damage. He easily took them out, all the while searching for whatever it was that was causing most of the damage.

Eventually, he noticed something strange. The walls of the structure looked as though they were being hit repeatedly even though he saw nothing there that could have caused that to happen.

He shot fire in the direction of the damaged wall, and it lit up in flames. The smoke revealed a shape. The shape roared and the booming noise knocked Erik to the ground. His arm was scraped and bleeding but he didn't judge it as a serious injury at all.

He heard that familiar voice again. "Erik, the hardest part is over. Thank you for helping me. I just need the other buildings to get to a point where they can repair themselves. I will do what I can to help you."

As the voice spoke, the swirling colors of the emotions surrounded the invisible creature, making its shape visible. One color remained with Erik and helped him to his feet. It was the pink of hope.

As Erik stood and regained his balance he shot a stream of water at the fire to put it out and then shot fire at the hidden creature. The flames struck it and it screeched from pain. Its single eye became visible as it was scorched. Erik approached the creature and finished it off with another blast of fire.

Erik made quick work of destroying the rest of the creatures that were causing all of the damage to the Emotions building. The Emotions building was starting to repair itself on its own as soon as all of the creatures that had been attacking it were gone.

Pink and yellow wisps surrounded him, as well as a golden strand of friendship, of platonic affection. As they surrounded him they healed his minor scrapes. Erik smirked with amusement, but he had to admit that it was a bit touching.

The voice addressed him again. "Thank you, Erik. I am in your debt, and you have my gratitude. Please… save the Dreams area… and then perhaps I will be able to fully recover, thanks to you."

"Very well, Jennifer. I will proceed to save the Dreams area. Also, I have considered some of the things that these creatures have been saying. They say that the reason that they are trying to destroy your mind is that you have no one here who cares about you…I… I have noticed this golden strand of emotion, this feeling of friendship or hope for friendship that you feel towards me… and I would like you to know that I do care about you to some extent and… and I may even consider you a friend."

The voice was audibly moved. "Thank you, Erik. For telling me this and for helping me…"

"You are welcome."

As Erik proceeded towards the Dreams building, he realized that was he had said was the truth. He did feel something for and care about this unusual girl. Perhaps it was that she gave him a glimpse of a future, perhaps it came from the way she could infuriate him and then still trust him enough to open her mind to his perusal… but whatever the reason, Erik realized that he did consider her someone he might be able to trust… a friend, even.


	16. A Wager

Erik entered the Dreams building with a feeling of foreboding. None of the creatures he had faced before had posed any significant challenge to him. This all seemed far too easy…

The Dreams building was full of darkness and there was no light when he entered. The darkness didn't bother him, of course, as he could see just fine in it, but it was in sharp contrast to the other buildings, which often seemed to be whirling with colors and lights, or at the very least were not dark.

The steel door to the building closed behind him and he realized that there was no handle and no lock, no way to open the door from the inside. He heard a voice in his head, and it certainly did not belong to Jennifer.

"Did you think it would really be as easy as it has been, for you to just come in and save this girl? No, we simply put our least formidable minions in the places you have been to thus far, knowing that you would have no trouble defeating them."

"Then, I must ask, what are you doing to Jennifer, and why?"

"The answers our minions gave you were simplistic, but not altogether untrue. The solution to her current situation does lie in caring for her, but that is not enough to save her by itself, and certainly we would not make the way to save her something that lies within your many talents. Nor would we make it anything that she is familiar with, or even understands…or you are not aware of what makes her so different, even in her own time. You see…she's not at all attracted to men, nor is she attracted to women. She doesn't feel attraction towards anyone, nor any feelings beyond platonic affection."

"That's…interesting…but what does that have to do with how I will save her?"

"We're going to use that to make the means by which you will try to save her more difficult. It will be foreign to both of you, and we expect you to fail. However, if you succeed she will become well again, and in addition to that we will grant you one wish. But if you fail, she will die painfully and there may be other consequences as well. But then again, if you do not accept this wager, she will die anyway. So if you want her to live, you should accept our terms, even though the task is nigh impossible…"

Erik did not like the sound of this. He had a feeling that the "other consequences" might involve his fragile heart breaking once more. He could not survive that, not again. He was going to die the last time that happened…surely he could not survive another heartbreak. But still… if he did not risk that to help Jennifer, and she died… he feared that he would fall apart anyway.

As he thought about the last time his heart had broken… he realized that he hadn't been thinking about Christine for a while… for the whole time he had been fighting to save Jennifer, at least. The feelings he had for her felt weaker now, dimmer. The obsessive feelings were fading away somehow. In their wake he felt a sort of… relief. But now… he had to save Jennifer, this girl who had fascinated him and befriended him.

"What must I do to save her?"

"So you agree to this bet, then?"

Erik nodded. "Yes, now tell me what must be done to save her."

"You must kiss her on the lips without a mask on, and she must not pull away immediately or show disgust. She must be conscious, too. You also must not tell her that you are doing it to save her, and it must be done within twenty-four hours of the time when you leave her mind."

Erik was discomfited by this challenge. It did seem nearly impossible…how was he going to kiss her, without his mask and without her showing any disgust? And what was this, anyway, some kind of fairy tale?

"I will explain a bit more. When you leave her mind she will be unconscious for an hour, and then will seem to recover and will believe that you have saved her. If you succeed in kissing her as I have described, the green gelatin-like substance that you know of, that is, us, will leave her and she will enter your time in body rather than just being an illusion. The things she had materialized up to that point will remain but she will not be able to materialize anything else. She will lose all of the powers of illusion that she has had in your time previously but she will not die. She will be all right. But if you fail- either by not showing her your face, by not kissing her or by her recoiling when you do kiss her- she will fall ill again and you will not be able to stop it. She will die, and it will be extraordinarily painful."

Erik felt heavy with fear. This was his friend, and if he could not do the impossible she would perish. He asked, "Who are you, anyway?"

"Think of us as a sort of… parasite… that lives in the tunnels of time. We are sucking the life out of her, and if you do not save her in this way she will most definitely die. We had you fight the minions earlier so that she would believe that you have saved her already. Now, I think it is time for you to leave her mind…"

"Wait. Where are her dreams?"

"We have stored them in a different part of the building for the moment. They will return to their normal position once you leave. Now go, and remember that you have only twenty-four hours…"

The steel door opened and Erik walked through it. As he left through it he was back in Jennifer's box, no longer in her mind.

He worried about how he would manage to save her. A kiss…on the lips? His own mother hadn't even kissed him, and Christine… Christine had kissed him on the forehead, and he thought that that was the greatest joy he would ever feel in life. How could he possibly show Jennifer his face and kiss her on the lips, without her being revolted?

He saw Jennifer lying unconscious on her white bed. He lifted her into his arms and carried her back to his home, starting to hatch a plan and hoping that it would work. He knew that if he failed, for whatever reason, he would lose both his friend and his heart.

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Happy New Year, everyone, and please review!


	17. Faces

Sorry that it's been a while. I've been busy with exams and homework, as well as my eighteenth birthday (I got to vote in the Florida primary, yay!) Hope you enjoy this chapter, anyway. Leave a review to let me know that you're still reading and how you feel about it.

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An hour later, Jennifer woke up. She felt a lot better all of a sudden. Erik must have saved her, although her memory of what exactly happened towards the end of his time in her mind was hazy.

What stunned her, however, was that she was no longer in her box. She recognized her surroundings as those of the Louis-Philippe room. She was lying on the divan and there was a blanket over her. She rose from the divan and felt as though all of her strength had been returned to her. She decided that she should do a test to see if her powers of materialization were as strong as before, and figured that she may as well start by materializing all of the supplies she would need to make a time machine.

Once they were all materialized to her satisfaction, she figured that it couldn't hurt to make a second set. Things could easily blow up or bend beyond usefulness if so much as a simple mistake occurred, and it wouldn't hurt to be prepared. Besides, Erik may well wish to make one on his own after she shows him how it is made.

Then, Erik came in through a door that Jennifer hadn't been able to see. She felt a surge of gratitude and suddenly wanted to hug him. She wasn't sure how well he would receive it but she had too much trouble holding herself back and gave in.

He seemed shocked, but to her surprise he didn't pull away but returned her embrace until she herself eventually pulled away. Jennifer awkwardly said in his head, "Thank you, Erik. For saving me."

Of course, Jennifer couldn't see Erik's smile when she hugged him nor the sad look in his eyes when she mentioned him saving her, just as Erik could not see her blush as she spoke.

He began to speak. "You are welcome, Jennifer. I think…I think I should be open with you. After all, I've been able to explore that curious mind of yours and look at all of your memories, and you've promised me a chance to further explore it. But I am still a mystery to you, in a way- I know that you know more, but it is all second-hand knowledge- but now I consider you Erik's friend, and so I believe…I believe that there is something I ought to show you."

"All right, Erik. What is it?"

"You will see shortly. Would you come with me, please?"

He held out his hand and she took it carefully. She tried to avoid shivering even though his hand was very cold, and she was surprisingly successful.

He brought her into his room, and she thought about how it was pretty much the way she had expected it to be. He was only slightly surprised that she didn't seem disturbed by the sight of a coffin. He invited her to sit down, and she did. He sat down after she did.

There was a moment of awkward silence as Erik tried to decide what to say. Eventually he just said, "I want you to see my face, Jennifer. All right?"

"All right."

Erik was very nervous, and wasn't really sure how she would react. He decided to act quickly and tore the mask from his face. He closed his eyes, not really wanting to see her reaction.

When he didn't hear any noise, he breathed deeply in an effort to stay calm and slowly opened his eyes.

He saw tears streaming down her own mask. Her eyes were open and she seemed calm. Their eyes met and Erik could see some combination of pity, compassion, and friendship there.

They stared at each other in silence for a few minutes and then eventually Jennifer removed her own mask. The eyes that appeared to be floating closed and suddenly her face appeared. It didn't look as troubled as before, and she appeared healthier than he had ever seen her before. There was still the glistening of a tear in one of her eyes, but her voice was calm and for once he could hear it with his ears rather than only in his head. She must have materialized her vocal chords with her face.

"Are you feeling all right, Erik?"

"I…I am fine, I suppose. It is just hard to show myself to others…why do you cry, instead of being fearful or disgusted?"

"Well, I knew what to expect, I guess…so it just made me sad, thinking about the things you could have achieved and the happiness you could have had but for the prejudices of humans. It's true that it's not at all pleasant to look at, but I definitely wouldn't judge you by that. I don't mind seeing it, but I understand a feeling of security and confidence that comes from hiding one's face. My face is considered 'normal', and I've felt that sort of feeling before."

Erik nodded. So she wouldn't be disgusted simply by seeing his face…but that didn't mean she would be all right with receiving a kiss from it.

Jennifer asked, "Would you like me to show you how to build a time machine now?"

Erik smiled slightly. "Certainly, I would like that."

Jennifer's face lit up as she brought him to the materials and showed him how to construct it. Erik paid attention eagerly, but all this talk of time reminded him that his time to save her was limited…


	18. An Idea

After a few hours had passed, they had completed construction of a time machine. Erik was in awe. He didn't need to question that her design worked; she herself was proof of that. He was still very worried about how he would manage to kiss her without her being repulsed. He hoped that the right opportunity would present itself, and soon.

Erik decided that perhaps starting a conversation with her and getting to know her a bit better would be a good way to start. He was still curious about some of the things that he had been told while inside of Jennifer's mind.

"May I ask you a question, Jennifer?"

"Sure, Erik."

"I…I noticed a complete lack of attraction to others…while I was inside your mind. How is this?"

"Oh. I don't know, Erik. Just the way I am, I guess. I've read a study that found that about one percent of people are like me in this way. I know it probably seems odd…"

"It does a little bit, perhaps, but I'm not really one to judge that, being quite…eccentric…myself."

"It makes me feel a little bit alienated sometimes, just because nearly everyone else feels something that I can't. And in my time and in the society I am from the whole world seems to be obsessed with sexual things. It makes it a little bit harder to understand people. But I wouldn't want to be any different than I am now."

"Do you think you would ever want to have any sort of romantic relationship? Do you think you could ever love someone?"

"I don't know, Erik. I can love people, in a familial or platonic way. But romantically? I don't think I could. I suppose it's not impossible, though. Some of the… people like me…have said that they can feel romantic attraction and can fall in love even though they don't feel sexual attraction. I don't think I feel romantic attraction, either, but I'm not sure how to tell or what it's like."

Erik knew what it was like well enough to know that he was feeling it towards her now. He didn't feel very hopeful that he would be able to ever express those new feelings, aside from the kiss he would hopefully give her soon, but that didn't change what he felt. Wanting to break the awkward silence that had formed, he hastily said, "I see. This is all quite fascinating, and I certainly understand what it's like to feel alienated, although my alienation came for a much different reason…"

Jennifer nodded solemnly, and then suddenly her face lit up. He was glad that he could see her face now. It became fairly obvious that she had come up with a new idea. Aside from that, now that her face looked healthy again it was…cute. Perhaps not beautiful…not yet, at least…but he was sure that when she matured she would be lovely. He thought it was a shame that she didn't seem to hold her appearance in very high esteem, and also that it was a shame that he would not likely be there to see her grow up…if she even got a chance to grow up...

Jennifer announced, "Erik, I've had an idea for…a new invention. Would you mind if I worked on it alone for a while?"

Erik did mind, he wanted to spend more time with her, to try to find an opportunity to kiss her. But instead of saying that, he answered, "No, I wouldn't mind. Take all the time you need, but I would like it very much if you would have dinner with me tonight."

"Sure, Erik! And, with any luck, I'll be able to show you my invention then!"

"All right. Should you need anything, I will be in my room."

Jennifer stayed in the Louis-Philippe room and materialized the supplies she would need for her new invention, and Erik went to his room to compose.


	19. A Kiss

Jennifer put the finishing touches on her new invention, hoping that Erik would approve of it. Looking at the clock, she realized that the time for dinner was most likely approaching. Sure enough, she heard a knock and then Erik came in and told her that dinner was ready. She smiled and followed him to the dining room.

After they sat down, Jennifer said, "Erik, I've finished my invention. Would you like me to show it to you before we eat?"

"Sure, if you would like to."

Jennifer nodded. "I know that you had been working on a different mask…one that would not draw as much suspicion. Well, I have made you one." She retrieved her invention and handed him a small box-shaped thing, the control panel.

"You can adjust it to whatever facial features you like. The inside is made with a sort of gel-like substance that should be a lot more comfortable and will also allow you to move the face and to feel anything it would feel. It will look very realistic, and I doubt anyone will be able to tell that it is a mask."

Erik could barely believe his eyes and ears. She showed him how to work the control panel and he adjusted the facial features until he had them as he wanted them. He fitted the mask onto his face, and found that it was a perfect fit. He lifted a hand to his face and…it felt like skin, and he could feel it!

"Excuse me for a moment, Jennifer…I would like to go look in a mirror."

"Certainly, Erik."

"I…I don't have any down here…"

Jennifer smiled. She closed her eyes for a second and a sleek, silvery mirror appeared in her hands. She presented it to him, and he smiled when he saw his reflection. There was no way to tell that it was a mask. He saw and felt tears of gratitude and joy coming into his golden eyes, the only part of his actual face that could still be seen.

He returned her smile and decided that this was the moment to kiss her. He removed the new mask and softly, using his voice to make sure she was calm, said, "Thank you very much, Jennifer…"

She had almost opened her mouth to reply when Erik pressed his lips against hers. She seemed to be in shock but did not pull away. It felt wonderful to him, and he felt almost giddy, an unusual feeling for him. He realized that even though she wasn't pulling away the kiss might not feel as nice to her as it did to him, so he pulled away after a few seconds.

She seemed to be dizzy and disoriented. "Erik…I feel strange…I can't feel the part of me that's in the tunnel anymore, I can't feel the green substance…" She closed her eyes and seemed to be struggling. "I can't materialize anything!"

Erik tried to soothe her. "You're fine now. It's all right." He noticed that she was now in the black t-shirt and pants that he had seen her in when her illusion had lapsed in the managers' office. He glanced back into the Louis-Philippe room and saw her white dress sitting on the divan. The illusion was gone; she was just Jennifer, no longer the White Phantom.

She hugged him, and he saw a look of fear and confusion in her eyes. He understood; all of the power she had had in this time was gone now, and she was frightened and completely defenseless. He ran his hand through her hair and soothed, "Everything is going to be all right. You are under Erik's protection now. You're in Erik's domain now, after all, and Erik would very much like it if you would join him for dinner."

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Hope you like it and sorry for the delay. I think this story is nearly done, maybe a few more chapters left. It's getting closer to the end, at least. Please review and let me know what you think! 


	20. Powers and Plots

Erik felt a strange sensation. One moment he was telling Jennifer to have dinner with him and the next he was surrounded in darkness. He heard the same voice he had heard while in the Dreams building in Jennifer's mind.

"We are impressed that you managed to succeed. As promised, we will grant you one request. What is your request?"

Erik thought for a moment and, after deciding what he wanted, answered, "I want the abilities that Jennifer previously possessed, without any of the negative side effects."

"Very well. We will grant this wish. You will soon be back exactly where you were before, but will have access to the powers she once had."

Sure enough, mere seconds later Erik was back in his home, running his hand through her hair as he had been before. She nodded in response to what he had said before he had made his wish.

Erik moved away and pulled out a chair for her to sit in. She sat down and then he sat in the chair opposite her. He motioned for her to begin eating, and then put on the new mask. He said, "I should like to try eating with my new face."

Jennifer smiled awkwardly and began eating the dinner he had made for her, which consisted of chicken and some vegetables. Erik ate a little, happy that for the first time he could eat in front of someone comfortably without any worry about how he looked. He was pleased with this face.

Erik noticed her nervousness in the way her feet were tapping and in her facial expressions. He asked, "Are you feeling all right?"

She replied, "I just feel a little bit…well, frightened, really. Now that I can't materialize anything, I feel like I have no way to take care of myself and make sure that I'm safe. I trust you to protect me, as you said you would, but...I guess I just don't like feeling completely dependent and powerless…as I was earlier before you helped me, and as I am now."

Erik replied, "That's understandable. But you materialized all of the supplies you need in order to build a time machine, so you can leave whenever you like. You are also welcome to stay here under my protection for as long as you like. You're my friend, after all."

"All right, Erik. I'll keep that in mind. Thank you."

"You're welcome, Jennifer. And I want to thank you again for this wonderful gift you have made for me. I can eat quite comfortably in front of you now…it truly has pleased me. I…I also have some questions I would like to ask you, if it's all right with you."

"Sure, Erik. It's all right." At this point Jennifer yawned.

Erik smiled. "I am curious about…how you used these powers that you once had. How did you communicate directly into a person's head?"

"Oh. I had to focus on them and then think of what I wanted to say. I could see the words and then once they were as I wanted them I just…well, made sure I was focused on them and sort of pushed them with my mind. It's kind of hard to describe…it all worked very intuitively, somehow."

Erik focused on Jennifer and could see what she meant. He thought about what he might want to say, and then decided that it might be better to keep this trick up his sleeve until a more opportune moment presented itself.

"That is very interesting, and I can see why it might be difficult to explain. Can you explain what exactly you did while you were materializing objects?"

"That too required a lot of focus. I usually had to close my eyes in order to better visualize the object so that it would be the way I wanted it to be. I could see the items fairly easily, it just took a lot of concentration and it wore me out."

"Thank you for humoring my curiosity. I hope that I haven't made you uncomfortable."

"No, I'm fine."

"That's good. Did you find the food satisfactory?"

"Yes, Erik, it was very good."

"Then I suppose you should get some rest soon. I imagine you should get some rest soon. You're welcome to stay in the Louis-Philippe room and you may use that bathroom to take a bath if you like."

"I…thank you, but I don't feel too tired yet…"

"I can tell that you are tired, Jennifer, and so I must insist. You have been through a lot recently and some sleep will do you a lot of good."

"All right, Erik, I…I am a little bit tired. I'll try to get some sleep."

She went back to the Louis-Philippe room and Erik smirked. She would be asleep in less than an hour for certain, so it was time for him to set up the next stages of his plan. He closed his eyes and focused, and in his hand a container of ink appeared.


	21. Preparations and Invitations

Sorry, I know it's been a little more than a month. But now my AP exams are done, so I'm feeling a lot less stressed out. I tried to make this one longer to make up for the wait, too. In fact, it is the longest chapter in this story so far. Hope you enjoy it, and please leave a review to let me know what you think. I'll try to get in one more chapter before I leave for Europe on vacation early in June...

* * *

Erik returned to his home after leaving a note to the managers in their office. He was very pleased with his new powers, and he felt almost… omnipotent. He checked on Jennifer, and, sure enough, she was sleeping peacefully in the bed. She must have taken a bath, for her hair was still slightly wet and she had changed into a nightgown that he had set out for her. She was smiling in her sleep, and Erik was glad that nightmares were not disturbing her. He decided that as she would no doubt sleep for several hours this was an opportune time to relocate the items in her box to his home. This was her home now, after all, as far as he was concerned.

He arrived at the box and decided to use his new powers to come up with a way to transfer all of Jennifer's items down to his home in one trip. He came up with an idea and, closing his eyes, focused on the object he wanted to materialize. A black bag appeared in his hands.

He packed everything that would be useful and that Jennifer might need or want into the bag but, as he had planned, the bag did not increase in weight or in size at all. He smiled and, after a last look to make sure he had gotten everything, returned to his home.

Erik set up everything as he wanted it and made some other preparations before getting a little bit of sleep himself.

He woke up again a short time before Jennifer woke up. It had been about four hours since they had had dinner. Erik heard Jennifer begin to stir and decided that it was time to move to the next stage of his idea.

He entered the Louis-Philippe room and found her sitting up, startled at the sight of the white comforter that she had left in her box. Erik explained, "Ah, yes, I decided to fetch some of your items for you from your box, since you'll be staying here with me now. Is that all right?"

Jennifer seemed taken aback, not recalling agreeing to stay in his home for a longer period of time than that night, but nodded. "That's fine, Erik."

Erik smiled, attempting to hide his nervousness. "There is an opera being performed tonight. I was wondering if you would be willing to accompany me to it. That is, if you're feeling well and aren't too tired…"

Jennifer looked a little bit confused, but nodded and returned his smile. "That sounds fine."

Erik said, "All right. Then I'll leave you for a little while so that you can get ready. I planned an outfit in case you wanted to go. You'll find it in the bathroom."

"Thanks, Erik."

Erik nodded and left the room. He was glad that she had said she would go with him but was a bit concerned by her apparent confusion. But then he hadn't exactly been clear about anything… why he had really kissed her, and why he was suddenly asking her to go with him to see an opera. He wanted a chance to go out and, for one night of his life, feel… normal. With the new face that Jennifer gave him, Erik felt closer than ever to that dream, and now that she agreed to go with him, he felt that he might be able to realize his dream of feeling normal. To be able to go out without facing stares and glares at every turn was something he had dreamed of but couldn't realistically hope for, and to be able to have an attractive young woman, whom he had feelings for and who at least cared for him, if she could not love him, going with him while he realized that dream seemed amazing to him. He felt worried that he did not have much time to live this dream, as Jennifer could build her time machine in a matter of hours, or simply use the one she had constructed for him if she was really in a hurry to leave.

He was sure that she would be adorable in the dress he had materialized for her. He hoped that she would be more comfortable in it than in both the dresses he had seen in her memories and in any of the usual dresses of his time. He designed it to be of a very comfortable material of a color that would highlight her pale skin. The dress would be modest enough, yet would flatter her shape. Needless to say, he was excited and a bit impatient as he paced through his home waiting for her to get ready.

In the bathroom, Jennifer was feeling nervous and was still worried about her lack of powers and her new vulnerability. She had felt invulnerable before, when she could materialize items for her defense or create illusions to help her, but now she felt so weak. Erik had been acting strangely, even for him, and that heightened her worry, but she cared for Erik and did not really think that his intentions were bad. She just wished she could understand what they were. What exactly was the nature of his feelings towards her? And why did he really kiss her, any way?

She tried to push these worries aside, and picked up the dress that Erik had set out for her. She didn't really like dresses and was not keen on having to wear one, but it did look beautiful. She was relieved that it didn't require a corset or anything like that, because she really wouldn't have known how to put one on. It was more like dresses from her time, and that made her rather suspicious. How would Erik have a modern dress?

She put the dress on and tried to use the mirror that she had materialized earlier for Erik to check how it looked. It was lovely royal purple color and she noticed that it made her pale skin look better… more fair than wan. However, she noticed that her hair looked like a mess, like usual. Usually she would not be concerned about that, but she could tell that Erik wanted her to look good, so she searched for a comb or brush of some sort.

She found a brush sitting on the counter. It was golden in color and as she ran it through her hair she was relieved to find that it didn't get caught in her knots or make her hair even more tangled, as brushes and combs sometimes did with her hair. It didn't even hurt!

After several minutes her hair looked smooth and straight, and she blushed when she saw that she looked kind of… good. She was embarrassed at that and mussed up her hair a little bit, but not enough that it looked bad.

She put on the shoes that were there and then figured she was ready to go. She still felt nervous but she decided to put her trust in Erik and walked out of the bathroom and out of the Louis-Philippe room to where Erik was waiting for her.

Erik thought she would be adorable, but he didn't expect her to look as beautiful as she did now. He thought the dress looked lovely on her, and smiled as he addressed her. "You look beautiful, Jennifer."

He noticed that she was blushing when she responded, "Th-thank you, Erik."

Erik nodded and offered her his arm. She took it and did not shudder at how cold it was, and he led her out of his home through some secret passageways to Box Five.


	22. An Opera and a Ring

Sorry it's been so long, got back from a trip to Europe a couple of weeks ago and then got writer's block when I tried to write. This is a little short, but I hope you enjoy it. Please leave a review to let me know that you're still interested.

* * *

When they arrived at Box Five, Erik had Jennifer take a seat in a rather comfortable chair. He sat down in the chair next to hers. The opera was about to start.

Erik felt amazed at how he could sit in his box in view of anyone who cared to look without attracting any stares or attention. He hadn't put himself out of view this time, and he had written to the managers saying that a friend of his and his lady would be using the box tonight.

The opera started and through it Erik was glad to be with Jennifer. She seemed to be enjoying the opera. She still looked a little bit sad but he could tell that she was having a good time.

Erik suddenly wanted to be closer to her; he wanted to hold her hand or put his arm around her or touch her in some way, but he didn't feel bold enough without it being necessary like the kiss was or in traveling like when he offered her his arm earlier. He didn't want to scare her off or make her uncomfortable with him… he was afraid she would return to her time as soon as possible if he did that.

However, he moved his hand towards hers and let it brush against her hand, barely touching it but touching it enough that he could feel the contact and was glad. She didn't seem to notice and seemed to be focusing on watching the show.

Erik reveled in that slight touch and then, after a few moments, his hand felt bolder and slowly moved until it was over her hand but not quite touching it. Jennifer appeared to notice this and glanced over at their hands. She closed her eyes for a moment and then opened them and looked into Erik's.

She nodded slightly, and Erik smiled and put his hand on hers. They were still cooler than those of an average person, but they felt rather warm to him.

He worried that she might recoil at how cold his were, but she didn't. She went back to enjoying the show. Erik had long stopped paying attention, he had seen it before and it wasn't nearly as interesting to him as watching Jennifer's reactions and feeling her hand under his.

The opera was drawing to a close. When it finished Erik relinquished her hand and they both clapped. Then Erik, with a smirk, asked, "Would you like to confuse the managers terribly?"

Jennifer returned his grin and replied, "Oh, that could be fun!"

"Yes. I believe that they will be returning to their office after mingling with the guests for a while, we could easily get there before them."

Jennifer smiled and nodded, and Erik led her through a series of passageways until they arrived in the same spot as the last time they had come to the managers' office.

Erik made some preparations, materializing a few items that he would need for effect. It was too dark for Jennifer to see what he had summoned, or that he even had anything. They stood in silence until they heard the footsteps of the managers approaching. As the managers entered their office, Erik greeted them, his voice filling the whole room.

They seemed startled and realized that the opera ghost was addressing them. They asked what he wanted, and he replied that he wanted them to meet his guests, saying that they would be arriving at the office shortly.

The managers laughed and confirmed that they would gladly meet his guests.

Erik said, "Very well" and then led Jennifer through another passageway. It led them to a place a short distance away from the office. Erik approached Jennifer and slipped a device onto her ear, and then placed a ring on her finger. She looked up at him questioningly, but he said "It's for effect, don't worry."

Erik approached the door and knocked briefly, and the manager's opened it for him and Jennifer to enter. "Ah, we've been expecting you; you were the guests in Box Five."

"Yes, ah, you may call me Erik, and this is my…ah…fiancée, Jennifer. Sorry, she just arrived from America and is still learning French…I believe she understands it, but she can't speak it yet."

Jennifer didn't know why, but she could suddenly understand the French they were speaking, just like she could when she had her powers. It must have had something to do with the device Erik had placed on her ear, but this all seemed very suspicious.

Jennifer played along with Erik and nodded, confirming what he had said.

Erik went on, "Yes, well, I am a composer, as you may have been told, and I am interested in having some of my work performed. I am sure we can discuss the details later, but now I am taking my fiancée for dinner. Goodbye."

The managers seemed dumbfounded, but nodded and said good-bye.

Erik and Jennifer left the room and, as the door closed, Erik sent a "Goodbye" with his voice to fill the room before bringing Jennifer back to his home.


	23. A Pie and a Proposition

When they returned to his home, Erik told Jennifer to take a seat at the table. He went into his kitchen as she did so and decided to give her a food from her memories. He materialized the pie and retrieved any utensils that would be needed.

He brought the pie out to the table and said "I thought you might like some dessert."

Jennifer smiled when she saw the pumpkin pie. It was her favorite, but she wondered how Erik knew that. She didn't think he would have paid attention to specific details like that at the time that he was inside her mind.

The pie smelled very good and Jennifer ate her slice happily. It was delicious, too. She asked Erik to try a slice as well.

He sat down and complied, once again in awe of how it felt to be able to eat in front of someone else. The pie did taste pretty good, and he was glad that she seemed to be enjoying it.

When Jennifer finished her slice she said that she was full, so Erik took the pie into the kitchen and placed it under a cover he had materialized earlier for storage. Then he returned to the table and sat down, wishing to speak with Jennifer.

He felt that keeping his new abilities hidden might backfire if Jennifer discovered them on her own. After all, she was clever and she had had the same abilities herself. It may only be a matter of time before she would figure it out. However, he wanted to let her know about it in a way that would be advantageous to him and help him get what he wanted.

He wanted to have someone with him who cared about him, someone who would live in his home with him and talk to him and spend time with him. He also wanted to kiss her again…he was also worried that if he went for that last wish, he would lose his chance at having the others granted.

He addressed Jennifer, "I believe that there is something I need to talk you about."

"All right…what is it?"

"I'm sure that you've noticed that I've been using and giving you some unusual items lately, yes?"

"Yes, I did notice that…"  
"Do you have any idea how I might be getting them?"

"I'm not sure…I have a few ideas but I don't really know."

"I see." He reached for her hand and she let him hold it. He smiled. "Jennifer, I…" He focused on what he wanted to say so that he could say it in her head, trying to make his voice as soothing as possible. "I have access to the abilities that you have lost."

Jennifer paled considerably. Erik could feel her hands, which usually felt warm against his frigid skin, chill. Her eyes were wide and he could see a variety of feelings pass through them; at first there was confusion, but that was replaced with fear and panic.

Erik was afraid that she would become hysterical, so he caressed her hand gently and continued speaking into her mind in a calm, hypnotic tone. "What's all this fear about? You don't imagine that I would try to hurt you, do you?"

She seemed to calm down a little bit. "No…I don't think that… but it's like what I told you about before. I've felt helpless since I lost my abilities, and now that I know that you have them, the balance of power is even more lopsided."

There was a touch of amusement in Erik's voice. He had switched back to his actual voice, hoping that it would frighten her less than hearing his voice in her head. "You mean that you don't like being at my mercy- or anyone's, really."

"Y-yes, that's right. But that's not all. I'm confused because I don't really know what your motives are- I don't know _why_ you do some things and what your intentions are regarding me."

"Well, I was actually planning on explaining some of that now. You see, I have a proposition for you. I thought our last deal worked out rather well, and, seeing how you feel now, I know that you will consider my little proposition rather carefully."

She looked into his eyes and he could see that she was still a bit scared, but curiosity shown through.

He continued, "When you first came to me, I had believed that I was about to die. I'm still not quite sure why I didn't. But, regardless, I can still sense that my time is running out. I do not want to live the last few months, or weeks, or…days… of my life alone and unloved. I desire companionship through this final chapter of my life. I am asking you to wait until my final days to return home to your time."

"H-h-how is this proposition any different from the current situation?"

"Oh, it is much different. I will have your promise that you will not use your time machine to get back home until I release you. I am asking you to give me control of the last thing over which you have any control."

"That is…more difficult, yes…"

"In return, I would teach you a great amount of things. I could train your voice, teach you to play any instrument you wanted; I could even teach you ventriloquism or sleight of hand if you wanted to learn about that!"

He saw her smile and at that moment knew that she would accept. She nodded, and said that she would accept his proposition. He returned his smile and they shook hands. The deal had been made.


	24. Chess and a Doll

The next few days went about according to the deal. Erik taught Jennifer many things about a variety of topics; he introduced her to ventriloquism, began her lessons in her voice and in playing piano, started teaching her French, and gave her lessons in sleight of hand and magic tricks. They ate their meals together, and on the second evening Erik asked her if she would like to play chess with him. She agreed, and they had a heated match, which Erik won.

"Have you played chess very often before?"

"Oh…sometimes I went to tournaments with my little brother. I'm not very good at it, not nearly as good as him; I could only win a couple of matches each time. It mostly was just a fun way to spend time with my brother."

"You aren't too bad; sometimes you have your moments of insight that I can observe. Your face lights up in a beautiful way when you find the right move."

Jennifer blushed, partly from his compliment and partly from the intensity of his yellow gaze. It unnerved her a little bit, and made her wonder what he was thinking of. She kind of wished that if he was going to do something he would do it already; the tension just made her feel anxious.

Erik made his move, reaching across the chess board to move a stray hair from out of Jennifer's face and then lightly touching her cheek. She was relieved to see that his facial expression was not quite as intense as before and now showed feelings she could accurately interpret, affection, rather than the mysterious and intense look from before. She was touched by the tenderness of the moment, and wondered if he would say anything.

Eventually he did, albeit awkwardly. "Jennifer, I want…would you… could we cuddle… together?" Jennifer wondered why someone who had so much of the world and people around him under his control would seem so awkward, but then it struck her. Of all the things he could control about her, he still could not or would not force her into certain activities, and he feared her rejection.

But she smiled. She didn't want to reject him in this. It sounded pleasant, and like something that could make him happy without making her uncomfortable. She said, "All right, Erik. Umm…where?"

He rose from his seat and led her to another room, sitting down on the comfortable couch there. Jennifer sat down after him and he pulled her into his embrace once they were both in comfortable positions. He smiled, thinking that this was a rather pleasant way to spend some time.

"Are you comfortable, Jennifer?"

"Er…yes, I suppose so. I'm comfortable enough." She was wondering why all of a sudden he wanted to cuddle. It brought out pleasant enough feelings and was innocent enough, but she had to wonder about the look she had seen in his eyes before.

He seemed to notice that she was having trouble relaxing, and ran his fingers through her hair while his other hand caressed her back. "What's wrong?"

"What do you mean?"

"You seem to have something on your mind that's making it harder for you to relax. You seem worried."

"Oh…I guess it's just the same feelings about being out of control again."

Erik nodded. "I can understand that. I have to say that I wouldn't like it if I suddenly lost all of the control that I have here. No, of course not. But, all the same, I hope you aren't regretting our deal."

"No, I don't regret that. You've made me very happy here; it's not at all unpleasant to stay here with you."

"I'm glad to hear that you like it here, and then I can only imagine that the part of the deal that you wouldn't be satisfied with is the cession of your last bit of control."

"Well… yes, but I suppose that's not so much a blow as losing my abilities was. After all, I'll still… I'll still have all the time in the world once I leave here, but your time here is limited, so if I can make you happy I'll be glad."

Erik kissed the top of her head, feeling very pleased. He used his voice to soothe her. "Yes, I see your point. Now, try to calm down and relax."

"All…all right." He could tell that she was drowsy, and could feel her drifting to sleep in his arms. He continued rubbing the back of her head and her back, enjoying the sensations and the feeling of being so close to her. Having her limp form resting peacefully next to him gave him an almost giddy feeling, similar to when he kissed her. He got a thrill from how easily she gave him even more power over her than she had previously agreed to, reveled in how much she must trust him to place herself in such a position willingly.

As he pulled a blanket over her he contemplated about how now, in marked contrast to when she had her abilities and could stand her own against him, she was like his little doll. He knew he could push her further down that path if he so desired, but he didn't think that that was what he really wanted.

Her abilities made her formidable and confident. He didn't want to see her confidence fade away just because the abilities were gone. He knew she was struggling between her deal with him, her lack of abilities, and her desire to have control of her circumstances. He could certainly relate to that desire; it was no doubt the reason he had made her so dependent on him. He wanted a companion, not necessarily on equal ground with him but with her own spirit, thoughts, opinions, and dreams; what he didn't want, however, was a puppet, for if that was what he wanted he could have just fashioned an automaton of a girl instead of bending a real, living girl with a future and a life to his will.

Erik realized that he was walking on a fine line while trying to shape her into what he wanted; if he crossed too far over it he would risk turning her gradually into his puppet, breaking her instead of fitting her to his mold, and if he didn't go far enough he would risk allowing her to break free and would lose her. But, he thought as his hands explored her blissfully unaware form as much as he dared, if he walked it just right, careful not to overstep it or undershoot it, the precious fragile doll curled up next to him would be his.


	25. Illusions and Plans Revealed

Merry Christmas! I stayed up late to get this done. Please review to let me know what you think of it!

* * *

Jennifer awoke to find that the room had been darkened, and she was surrounded by hundreds of pinpricks of light that still somehow left the room dim. As her eyes adjusted she could see that the pinpricks were from candles- except for two.

The other two pinpricks of light were from Erik's eyes as they glowed in the semi-darkness. They had a smile to them, and she could tell that overall Erik seemed very relaxed. His breathing was very slow and his posture was calm as he held her close to him.

She looked into his eyes and knew that he knew she was awake. He smiled. "Did you have a nice nap?"

"Yes, I think I did." She wondered how long she had been asleep that he had had time to arrange so many candles. Even if he had materialized them, they couldn't all be materialized at once and it would take a great amount of time and energy. She doubted that she had slept long enough to give him time for that. "How long was I asleep?"

Erik shrugged. "An hour and a half, perhaps."

"Did you get any sleep yourself?"

"I didn't fall asleep, but I rested."

She braced herself to question him. "How did you get so many candles here in such a short amount of time, especially if you were resting?"

Erik just smirked.

"Did you materialize them or… did you already have them? There are so many…"

Erik just shrugged, still smirking. Jennifer was perplexed, and wondered why Erik was being so difficult. She thought about what other means could possibly have produced so many lit candles- and allowed for the room to still be so dim despite them- when something occurred to her. Erik had her powers of materialization; what if he had her powers of illusion as well?

"Erik…are they an illusion?"

He nodded. "There's my clever girl. I knew you could figure it out on your own."

This brought several troubling implications to Jennifer's attention. Erik could control what she was able to see, and, considering the way that the illusions worked and his high IQ, she would only be able to break free if she was in a larger group of people than he was likely to be in or if he allowed her to. He had seemed understanding enough before about her feelings of being out of control, but now she felt like he was flaunting yet another way that he had control over her, with no sensitivity at all.

"Erik…have you used the ability of illusions on me before?"

"No, this is the first time."

That calmed her a little bit. "Why did you want me to know about it so soon?"

"Why didn't I pull the wool over your eyes? I know that if I had started with illusions that you could accept as plausible, never realizing that anything was amiss, until I moved on to bigger, harder to accept illusions, you wouldn't have been able to break free or barely even to question what you were seeing. As it is, you know just as well as I do that you will see exactly what I want you to see. But I didn't want to whittle away at your ability to question what was going on. I hope that you will see that cooperation is your best option, but I didn't want to take the choice away from you."

Jennifer sighed as Erik pulled her closer. "What exactly am I choosing to cooperate with or not?"

Erik ran his fingers through her hair as he responded, "It's your choice to try to resist, even though you know it is futile, or to give in to whatever I want to show you."

"If I did- hypothetically- give in, how would I be able to tell what was real from what's illusion? How would I know what's true?"

Erik seemed amused. "How did you know anything was true before? If you put your finger into the flames of any one of these candles, do you not think it will burn? Whatever illusions I choose to show you will be just as real to you as anything else…"

He dared to stroke her cheek. "But don't think that I will let you become disconnected from your reality. Your reality is that you will be here with me for an indefinite period of time, at my discretion. But think of the possibilities of this. I will be able to let you walk in the sunlight, to travel anywhere in the world you want to go, even to visit your family and friends. I know that you are content here, but I can make you very happy. I'm giving you a chance here to be reunited with your family in your mind, and even though it won't technically be real, it will feel like it. You will be able to believe it. But if you resist with all your mind and only yell at your illusionary parents and siblings that they aren't real, you will only serve to upset yourself. You know you won't be able to break free, so long as it's just you and me here, so you will see yourself yelling at your family as if they are actually your family. That feeling will be very hard to shake."

"Erik… you know I'm just scared."

"I know. It must be difficult to have to give over all control of yourself to someone else. I suppose it sort of crept up on you…it started out small and simple and then just became scarier and scarier. Trust me, I don't blame you for being frightened. But since this is the situation you're in, I'm telling you quite frankly that cooperating with me will save both of us- and mostly you- a great deal of trouble. I hope… I hope I don't seem cruel here. I don't have bad intentions, and I'm not trying to scare you. And… oh, I hope I haven't been too forward with you?" He said, referring to his hand on her cheek.

"No…no, it's fine. It's just… you're right how it's kind of crept up on me. It makes it seem almost coincidental. You didn't…you haven't planned this, this succession of increasing control, have you? I'll feel like such a manipulated fool if that's the case…"

"Ah, no, my dear girl, you needn't feel that way."

"That was a stupid thing of me to say wasn't it?"

"How so?"

"If it's wrong then it was mean of me to accuse you of that, and I'd be sorry, and if it's right, what do I gain by asking you? If you've been planning all along to control me then any answer you give me, whether it's a denial or an admission with an explanation will be with the goal of manipulating me further. And either way I can't do anything about it. You hold all the cards."

Erik smirked. He was both amused and annoyed at the way she had managed to finally see through him, although he of course still had the upper hand. She never failed to fascinate him, and he very much wanted to press a kiss to her lips at that moment, but didn't think she would appreciate it very much.

"You know, you could be a lot happier if you weren't so perceptive. I will tell you the truth, although perhaps it may still be in, as you say, an attempt to manipulate you. I have not been planning this from the beginning, although I have wanted to ensure that you would be mine for a while and have enacted plans in that direction. Those plans have clearly worked. Now, I never intended for you to feel so menaced. I want you to understand that very clearly. I don't want you to think that the feelings I've expressed towards you were in any way tools to manipulate you as well. To the contrary, they are a great deal of my motivation. I do genuinely care about you and I want to take good care of you. Try to calm down. I know this is difficult, I know I've made this a very tough situation for you, but keep in mind that you are quite safe. You aren't in any sort of danger that warrants the level of fear I sense in you. I could make things much more difficult for you, but now you are at a crossroads. Are you going to fight me when you know you cannot win?"

Jennifer's head was reeling from everything Erik had told her that night. Erik had been manipulating her, planning ways to get more control. She felt like she should have seen it earlier, but then he had seemed impressed enough with her for figuring it out at this point. She wasn't sure what to think or do, really, but she knew she had to make a decision, and quick.

She knew he was right; he would win in the end. There was no way that she could see through any illusion he chose to make her see. It was a futile battle, but could she really stand to go down without a fight? She knew that the answer was no, not when this was so important and when she had given up everything leading up to this with little more than negotiations. She knew it was foolish to risk his anger, even though she knew he wouldn't really hurt her, but she also knew that this was the last place where she could make her stand.

Jennifer was terrified of what it would be like, to always doubt if anything she saw was real or not. She didn't want to live as a puppet. She knew it was past the point where she could prevent that from happening if that was what Erik really wanted, but if all she could do was put up a resistance, she would resist all she could.

She pulled herself out of Erik's embrace and rose to examine one of the candles. It certainly seemed real. She tried to imagine that it didn't exist. She focused as hard as she could, but it wouldn't go away. That was all expected. She put her finger into the flame, and felt its heat as it burned her lightly. She withdrew it sharply.

Jennifer was overcome by her fear and all the thoughts racing through her head and collapsed. Erik scooped her into his arms and brought her back to the couch, giving her the kiss he could not dare to before.

She was still unconscious in his embrace, when he said, "I believe you granted me access to your mind, dear child." Having said that, and, placing his hands on her temples, he found his way back into her mind.


	26. Strands of Laughter

Sorry, this took a while and it's short. I've had plenty of schoolwork to keep me busy. Please enjoy and let me know what you think.

* * *

Erik proceeded to the building in her mind that contained her feelings, now tumultuous and raging with competing feelings. He was relieved to see that the gold strand that represented her feelings of affection towards him were as strong as ever, perhaps even stronger than the last time he had seen them. But there were other feelings directed towards him, as well. Erik could see violet confusion and a hint of dark fear, and knew he would have to do something about those. He also saw a dim green of resignation closely intertwined with the red of an angry determination to keep fighting back.

Erik wondered if it might be possible for him to influence these feelings while he was here. He reached out towards the wan green strand of resignation, attempting to tweak it ever so slightly. That wasn't quite how he wanted her to feel, it was such a negative word, so…depressing. He searched for a name that would be close enough to the feeling to match what he had to work with but would put a more positive spin on things. He decided that 'acceptance' would do nicely and focused on that sort of feeling, on what color it should have, hoping that it would diminish at least the fear she was having, if not the confusion.

When he was done, he found that he had succeeded. At least, the strand was now a less dreary shade of green, and the strand of fear seemed at least to not be as thick as it had been before. The confusion was just as strong, but he supposed that wasn't as much of a problem. He imagined that the desperate feeling of being trapped was accounting for much of the fear, and hoped that now she would be able to feel more relaxed about her situation.

Having done that, Erik approached the golden strand, examining it. It wrapped a tendril around him and he suddenly felt feelings of…infectious joy. He was happy, and he supposed he should be. This was evidence that Jennifer cared very deeply for him. Although her caring may not have consisted of the same components as his…but perhaps he could change that, as he had tweaked her feelings of resignation into acceptance.

He focused the same way as he had before on how he felt when he was around her, the romantic feelings and even the more… carnal ones. He used the same method as before, only to be met with…laughter.

The golden strand was somehow giggling. This was inexplicable, but contagious, and Erik couldn't help but laugh along with it. Not a maniacal or sinister laugh, but a spontaneous laugh full of joy.

Erik couldn't resist smiling after that, but all the same the message was clear. Jennifer would not be able to experience these feelings, and, while he could alter a feeling to something she could feel, he couldn't expect to be able to alter her basic nature.

He held on to the golden strand, intending to send his own message. "Very well," he projected into the strand, and thus Jennifer's subconscious mind. "I will not expect her to return the same sorts of feelings, but I think, once all of this resistance is over, I can reasonably expect her to _accept_ mine more readily."

The strand tightened and swayed ever so slightly to indicate that it had understood. Erik made sure to share the feelings he already knew Jennifer returned with the strand before the tendril released him and he walked out of the building of emotions, feeling as though he had accomplished his goal for the most part.


	27. Nightmares Revisited

I hope you enjoy it! Please leave a review to let me know what you think. I just got my wisdom teeth pulled out on Monday, so, yeah...I'm proud of myself that I managed to write this.  


* * *

After Erik left the building of Emotions, he went over to the building of Nightmares. He had never been able to explore it while it contained her actual nightmares before, and he was curious to see what it was she feared. He hoped it would give him some insight in to how to avoid truly scaring her, giving him a more clear boundary for the fine line he had to walk.

He entered the building cautiously, not sure what to expect.

The interior of the building was completely enshrouded in a dark smoke. As he moved through it he saw all kinds of nightmare visions, from being tortured in various ways too gruesome to recount to having body parts hacked off to being held down in a pool of water and drowning, all in vivid detail.

As he moved to the center of the room he saw a series of visions that were about him rather than general. They were rather mixed. Some had him as the main enemy, forcing himself on her or hurting her in other ways. In another he was lying dead in his coffin and she was weeping inconsolably.

It was hard for him to understand how she reconciled such competing subconscious views of him. He realized that that was probably because it was hard for her to do so. He could see how she might view his behavior towards her as contradictory and confusing, at turns gentle and domineering and often both at once. He didn't see them as contradictory himself, but then she had no way to know his every thought and feeling.

All the same, it brought out negative feelings in him to know that some of her more specific nightmares featured him in some form or another. It was obvious that she cared about him, but she did feel some fear of him, although perhaps not on a conscious level. Was that not what he wanted?

It was not lost on Erik that none of her nightmares related to him were about his face. That took him a moment to take in, but once he did he suddenly felt very pleased with her. This reminded him that this was his friend, not some toy that he could toss around without care. He answered his question with the conclusion that some healthy fear in her would be fine, but not the subconscious fear of imminent bodily harm he had seen. That could only make her uncomfortable with him in a way that could not benefit him at all.

Erik again contemplated how fine the line he had to walk was. He needed Jennifer to understand that he was in charge without her subconscious mind making her fear him for scenarios that he had no intention of making real, that sickened him when he saw their images.

Erik wondered briefly if there was a way to change these images from within her mind, but decided that that would not work. He was in the realm of nightmares, and there was nothing as similar like with feelings that would work in this situation. He would have to do this the hard way- show her that harming her really is the furthest thing from his mind, perhaps with more action than mental manipulation this time.

He momentarily felt daunted by the task ahead- how would he ever manage to prove to her that he really means no harm while still maintaining the careful balance of power that he had gained over her?

As he remembered her in the greatest detail he could- the way her lips had felt when he kissed them, the way her beautiful little body felt against him, the way her equally gorgeous mind worked so quickly and so hard to struggle against him and his illusions, even knowing it would be in vain- Erik felt all doubt leave his mind. Jennifer was his, and that was really all there was to it. Perhaps if she wasn't so stubborn, he could focus on finding more ways to ease her acceptance of the situation…but for now he had to balance the issue of maintaining his control, and hope that what he had done in the Emotions building towards that end would be enough.

With that thought, Erik left the building of nightmares and towards the building that contained her dreams.


	28. Dreams Transformed

Upon entering the Dreams building, Erik was overwhelmed by a sense of happiness. The winged dreams made a buzzing noise as they flew around him. One zipped right past his head as he walked toward the area for Discarded Dreams, noting that when she was three years old she thought it would be cool to drive an ice cream truck, whatever that was.

He moved on to the section for Fulfilled Dreams and noticed they were mostly related to school accomplishments and that sort of thing.

The section for Dreams Not Yet Fulfilled was by far the largest. Some were related to career and school and the rest were related to various other topics. One in particular caught his attention and made him feel a bit guilty. She had wanted to see Paris, and he had for the most part kept her in the cellars he inhabited.

But he could change this. He had a face now, thanks to her. If she consented, he could take her on a carriage ride a picnic in the park. It would be a dream come true for him as well. And he would make sure she was aware that it really wasn't just an illusion.

Of course, when he could put this plan into action all hinged on how soon she became cooperative, but he did not think that this resistance would last for much longer. She would no doubt be a little bit upset at him for going into her mind by surprise, but she would also be worn out mentally. With the slight tweaks he had made to her feelings, he hoped things would be a little bit easier for the both of them.

* * *

Jennifer regained consciousness to find Erik over her, massaging her temples gently. She blinked, feeling like something was a bit different but unable to place it. If Erik noticed she was conscious, he did not acknowledge it and continued to rub her temples. It did feel rather soothing, but she wanted to know what was going on so she opened her mouth to ask him.

He moved one hand to cover her mouth and let the other continue what it was doing. "Shh…there's no need for you to speak, dear child. All I need to hear from you is whether or not you have reconsidered your foolhardy resistance against me and my plans for you. I am quite prepared to be the merciful victor so long as you don't keep up this childish protest. Well, are you done struggling pointlessly against me?"

Jennifer considered that there was really only one way to answer that and that now was probably the safest time to give up the struggle, if any such time could be called safe. She nodded, not expecting what he did next.

Erik quickly removed his hands from their positions on her face and pinned her hands above her head. They were both painfully aware of the accelerated rising and falling of her chest as she looked up at him with surprise etched in her features.

Erik sighed. "My dear girl, I'm afraid it will take more than a nod to confirm your surrender to me. I wouldn't want you to think that you can resist my will any time you wish and expect no retribution of any kind. Now, don't look frightened, I'm not going to harm you. I have no desire to harm you, and that wouldn't teach you the proper lesson anyway. Now, I think I've talked quite enough for the moment."

Having said that, Erik's lips crashed down onto hers, more forcefully than he had ever dared to before, feeling an overwhelming urge to exert his dominance. He used one hand to hold both of her hands in place and moved his other hand slowly down her face and body, caressing her hair, then daring to feel one of her breasts, then her stomach, almost daring to feel her most intimate area and deciding against it, running his hand all the way down her legs instead. He removed his lips from hers and kissed down her neck with just as much force as he had kissed her lips, leaving bruises as he went.

Erik finally stopped himself, and seemed just as out of breath as she was. He was concerned that she would fear him now, and she did seem a bit shaken up. He removed himself from his position on top of her to sit beside her, stroking her hair gently. As necessary as it was for him to show her that he was the one in control, it was now necessary to reassure her that he had no intention of taking the same liberties he just had with her again.

He was mostly concerned because, aside from her breathing, she merely seemed to be staring off into space now. She hadn't even moved her hands into a more comfortable position. Erik took her hands into his own, hoping to make her a little bit more comfortable. He projected into her head, "Jennifer, speak to me, please."

She seemed to awaken, as if she had been in a trance the whole time, and said, "Yes, Erik?"

Erik hugged her tenderly to him. "I was concerned, child. You seem so lost and frightened, and you needn't ever feel that way when you have Erik to protect you…even when it's Erik himself you need protecting from. But this was a demonstration… I take it you learnt its message, even if it was…a little confusing for you?"

She sighed. "I think so…but could you explain it in words, just so that it's perfectly clear for me?"

Erik nodded. "I certainly can. It… is a rather multi-faceted message, so I wouldn't blame you if you got the highlights and missed some of the finer details. But the most important thing I want you to pick up from this is that you are mine- any resistance to that will not be met well. I think I've already explained all of this to you in words…I will protect you and shelter you and I don't want you to imagine that you're in any danger of me doing anything to really harm you. Is that clear enough?"

"Maybe. But why did you go inside my head? And how?"

"I am not entirely sure how. But I did it because it was the simplest way to ensure that this resistance you put up, which really didn't benefit either of us, would come to a swift end." Erik cupped her cheek with one of his hands. "You know that this isn't a war or some kind of rebellion, right? We're just two people with competing goals and… really, no one needs to get hurt here. You've decided to stop resisting, and that's wonderful. I will make you so happy, and… oh, my dear, not everything will be an illusion like you were worried about. I was just thinking I might want to ask you if you'd want to go out for a picnic with me, perhaps tomorrow. It would take some preparation on my part but that would please me very much, if you are agreeable to the idea."

Erik was glad to see that she smiled at the idea. "That sounds like it could be very pleasant, Erik. I'd love to go on a picnic with you."

Erik nodded and said that he would need to take care of some of the preparations now, and that she could do as she liked in the Louis-Philippe room. She decided to take a bath and then read while Erik made arrangements, trying to relax through her fear.


	29. Contemplation

Jennifer went to the bathroom within the Louis-Philippe room and started a bath. She got in the water slowly, still feeling shaky after her most recent encounter with Erik. Now she was more confused by him than ever. He called her a child, but she was pretty sure the way he touched her… the way he _kissed_ her… was not the way one would touch or kiss someone one regarded as a child. Her lips were still sore, and she could see the trail of bruises he had left down her neck.

Tears welled in her eyes and she berated herself for letting herself become this weak without her powers. She had wanted to trust in Erik and believe in his promise of protecting her, and had gone numb when he started touching her more roughly than he had before. She knew he would stay true to his word when it came to any outside threat. There was never any doubt of that. It was whether he could… or would… protect her from himself, as he promised, that she doubted. He had stopped this time, but what if next time he didn't stop himself?

She was still confused at his rapid shifts between rough and gentle. As much as she enjoyed them, the gentle moments with Erik were starting to feel like the eye of a hurricane. Having been born and raised in Florida, she knew that the strongest winds were just outside of the eye. Erik was very much like a hurricane, she thought. You were never quite sure what he was going to do next.

With a hurricane of the strength she was sure Erik would be, you had to either evacuate or mount enough of a defensive against it and hope for the best. Her defensive had failed and now she was adrift and battered by the winds of his moods. It was too late to evacuate at this point, but she realized she had a much better chance at this than hurricane victims, and that was where the metaphor ended. A hurricane couldn't care less if it hurts or even kills you.

But she knew that Erik cared about her, and that was probably her answer, her third option not presented by the metaphor. A bit like trying to stay alive by packing everything into your car and attempting to always stay within the eye of the hurricane, she could cling to Erik's gentle side, and hope that some of that would stay with him when he was in his darker moods. Of course, the metaphor there was crazy, she thought, you'd have to follow the storm for quite a long time and if you were off course even a little bit the winds in the eyewall would kill you. On the bright side, she was pretty sure Erik didn't want to kill her, and he had more free will than a storm, so that was another place where the metaphor stopped.

She was done with her bath at this point and started to dry off. She was excited about going on a picnic with Erik, and it really seemed like he was, too. She dressed in a nightgown Erik must have set out for her and decided to read, feeling a bit calmer. She let herself get involved in the book and then fell asleep.

At that point, Erik had just about finished his errands and was heading back towards his home, feeling quite pleased about the way things had turned out. He was a bit worried that he might have frightened her a bit much, but still felt it was necessary in the long run. And now that she was ready to cooperate, he really wanted to shower her with affection. He couldn't let her forget that he was in control, of course, but with his little demonstration earlier he felt like she was unlikely to forget that for quite a while. Now was the time to be gentle and show her that she made the right choice to stop fighting him.

The feelings he felt while touching her…while _kissing_ her… were still vivid in his mind. He longed to touch her again, but knew he had probably gone a bit too far.

He took in a deep breath and sighed. Then, walking into the Louis-Philippe room, he saw that Jennifer was asleep.

Erik approached cautiously and softly caressed her cheek with his long fingers. Looking at her neck, he saw the bruises he had left behind and felt a swell of possessiveness, tracing them with his fingers, mixed with a twinge of guilt. He kissed her on the cheek and left the room.


	30. Carriage Ride Conversations

The next morning, Jennifer found a note from Erik sitting by her. It informed her that they would be leaving for the day's activities shortly and so she should prepare and put on the dress he had set out for her. She looked for the dress, and found a gorgeous emerald-green sundress. She questioned it briefly, thinking she would look out of place in such a dress, but figured Erik had accounted for such a thing and would take care of it.

It wasn't as modest as the other dress he had given her, although it wasn't immodest by the standards of her time either. As she slipped into it, she found that this color also flattered her complexion, and that this dress seemed to fit to her body without being too tight.

How did Erik keep making dresses that made her look so good? She went about the usual activities of getting ready, even brushing her hair so that it would look all right. She didn't feel the need to muss it up this time.

It seemed that the moment she felt that she was prepared, Erik walked into the room and greeted her with a smile, wearing the new face she had made for him. "Good morning, Jennifer. You look lovely today."

She blushed. "Thank you, Erik. So where are we going today?"

He continued to smile. "For a ride in a carriage, so that you can see a little more of the city, and then to a park for a picnic."

"Won't it be cold out here this time of year?"

"Ah, yes, it will be, for what you're used to. It actually was snowing a little bit out there last night."

Jennifer was confused. "But then how will we have a picnic?"

Erik smirked. "Don't worry yourself about that. I've taken care of everything. You will need a coat for the ride to the park, of course, so that you don't catch a chill, but once we're there you'll find that it'll be just like summer- although probably more pleasant than a humid summer day in Florida."

She was still about confused about how he would have managed that, but she was nevertheless excited and figured he wanted it to be a surprise. She nodded.

He escorted her to the Rue Scribe exit, where a carriage was waiting for them. He spoke with the driver for a moment, then helped her into the carriage before sitting next to her himself.

After they were underway, he asked her if she was hungry for breakfast, and she answered that she was. He materialized something else he had seen in her memory, an orange, and gave it to her. She smiled and peeled it, eating it hungrily. He smiled in return.

Not much conversation went on while she was eating and marveling at the light coat of snow and the city around them, but afterwards Erik tried to make conversation. "I went to speak to the managers the other day."

"As the opera ghost, or as you are now?"

He smirked. "Both, over the course of the meeting. But initially I was as I am now."

She nodded. "What did they say?"

"They gave in to my 'request' to have some of my work performed. Incidentally, they didn't seem to make any connection between the White Phantom that seems to have vanished and the pretty little fiancée of the composer, if that interests you."

She noticed that he was looking intently at her hand, but couldn't see anything noteworthy that would lead him to do so. He took hold of it, and she suddenly saw something she hadn't before: the ring from before. Surely she hadn't been wearing it this whole time?

She stuttered. "Erik…"

"Yes, dear?"

"How long have I been wearing this ring?"

"Since I gave it to you, when we went to see the managers."

"Erik…I haven't seen it in all that time…"

Erik collected her into his arms. "I know, child. I didn't want to worry you needlessly. But you're mine now- not my fiancée, but mine- and I wanted a tangible symbol of that."

He stroked her back gently. "What point would there be in making you worry about wearing my ring on your finger for more than just a deception of the managers? With a very small illusion, I was able to spare you some concern for a little while. Now you know the truth, but I hope you'll find that it's only a small burden. Does it unnerve you? "

"Yes, Erik, it does. What do you mean by it, Erik? How am I supposed to interpret this?"

He shrugged. "It's not really anything new. The ring is just a symbol. It doesn't have to mean anything whatsoever to you… but it will mean a lot to me if you wear it. There's just one thing… try to remove it. I don't want you to, and that's not permission, just try it."

Feeling very confused, Jennifer tried slipping the ring off her finger. It did not feel at all tight, but she was surprised to see that it would not budge.

Erik smirked, and placed his hand gently on her finger. He slipped the ring off with ease and examined it, smiling. Then he placed it back on her finger quickly, before she had time to protest.

"You see, my dear, you cannot remove the ring without my permission- and you cannot use your time machine with the ring on, unless you are with me. Think of it as my guarantee of your promise...but don't let it worry you. I can't hide it from you as easily anymore, but keep in mind that it's also a symbol of my promise to you. I will keep you safe, Jennifer."

She leaned into his chest as he held her close to him, and perhaps she did so out of emotional exhaustion, but she did feel a sort of comfort from it. She was in a strange city now, in a strange climate, and he was the only person at all familiar to her here.

Erik just reveled in the feel of her body close to him once again, glad that she wasn't too upset about the ring. He caressed her hair and found himself very content, but eventually she asked if he wouldn't mind telling her about some of the places in the city they were passing by.

He moved her so that she could have a better view but he could still hold her, and told her about any interesting places they passed, giving her a history of the city.

By the time they arrived at the park, they were both feeling very relaxed and calm.


	31. A Picnic

Erik helped Jennifer out of the carriage and into the snowy landscape of the park, where she looked around in awe.

"Erik…it's so beautiful…"

"This is your first time seeing snow?"

"Yes, Erik."

He smiled at how much more like a child she sounded now than she usually did. "Then take a few minutes to look around, child."

Jennifer smiled and sat down on the thin cover of snow. She scooped some of the foreign substance into her hand to feel it. "It's so wet! And cold, of course."

"Yes, of course." Erik chuckled. He let her stay there for maybe ten minutes, and then asked if she was getting a bit cold.

"Yes, Erik, I think I might be. Should we move on to our picnic, then?"

Erik nodded and took her hand to help her up. She rose and they proceeded into a more secluded area of the park.

Jennifer was shocked when they passed a certain point in the park. It was no longer winter, but summer or spring!

She asked, amazed, "How did you do this?"  
"Just an invention I materialized."

"This place is beautiful."

Instead of being snowy, it was vibrantly green and very sunny, but not excessively bright. She looked behind her and could still see the light coat of snow outside of a certain radius in their area, which was very bizarre.

Erik set out a blanket from the basket he had brought with him and invited her to sit down and take off her coat.

"Yes, it's beautiful. And it's quite isolated, especially this time of year, so we shouldn't have to worry about anyone poking their noses where they shouldn't. Now, as you can see, I've brought a basket of food for us. However, I thought it'd be nice if I made it a bit more like a picnic from your time. You like…hot dogs…yes?"

"Yes." She smiled.

With that, he revealed a grill that had previously been hidden. "All right then. Just lay back and I will grill some 'hot dogs' for us."

When he hazarded a glance in her direction, he saw that she had taken him quite literally and was lying on the blanket watching the few clouds overhead with a peaceful expression on her face. He smiled, glad he had given her such peace and looking forward to spending this time with her.

When the hot dogs were ready, he tried to tap into his memory of what he had seen in her head, not wanting to disturb her tranquility just yet. He put two hot dogs with mustard and relish on her plate, and, having never had the chance to try this food before, decided to try one with ketchup and one the way Jennifer seemed to like them.

He brought the two plates over to where Jennifer was and set them down. The basket was already there, and he went about removing some of the food he had brought with him.

He put some bread and cheese on each of their plates, but decided to wait until a little later to take any more food out of the basket, in case they became full. He was glad he had had the foresight to materialize something more like the coolers he had seen in her memory.

She turned towards him and smiled. "Thank you, Erik. For making me feel more at home here."

He returned her smile. "It's no trouble. After all, I want this to be your home. Now, let's eat."

They both ate their hot dogs, and Erik found that he liked the one with the mustard better than the one with ketchup as well. After they were both done, they lay back on the blanket contentedly, watching the clouds as Jennifer had before. They passed the time in companionable, peaceful silence.

After some time had passed, they proceeded to eat the bread and cheese. Jennifer suddenly rose, still looking up at the sky in awe. She commented, "I can't remember when I last enjoyed being in the sunlight this much."

Erik nodded, stunned momentarily by how beautiful she looked to him in the sunlight. "I feel quite the same."

She smiled and, with a seemingly childlike urge, ran towards the tree in the middle of the clearing and began to climb it.

Erik thought it was cute at first, but when she had almost reached the top, he became wary. He called out for her to climb back down, but she was already at the top.

At the very top, as her hand reached up, she seemed to become stuck on some kind of sticky substance.

She fell out of the tree from surprise and became tangled in the bizarre web, with its golden-eyed spider looking up at her from the ground.

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Please leave me a review. I'll try to get the next chapter up fairly quickly.


	32. The Spider and His Fly

Jennifer, caught in the strange web-like material, struggled for a few seconds, until she realized that she was only becoming more and more tangled.

Erik called out, "Stop moving, dear. I'll come get you."

Erik materialized a set of spider legs to fit onto himself so that he'd be able to climb the web without getting stuck. He climbed up to her and cut the strands that held her in place, catching her with four of the other legs.

"It's all right now. I've got you."

He saw her sink into unconsciousness. To ensure that he would not lose his grip on her, he quickly materialized a spinneret for himself and wrapped her in sturdy, fine silk before lowering her to the ground as gently as possible.

Erik dropped down to the ground on a dragline and removed his arachnid parts, then proceeded to check Jennifer for any injuries. He saw none and noticed that in his haste to secure her, he had bound her in web up to her waist, with her arms bound tightly to her sides. Erik judged that she would likely regain consciousness within half an hour on her own, and decided to use that time to alter their surroundings.

He was ready, standing over her when her eyes shot open. "As much as I enjoy your child-like spontaneity, I must request that you ask my permission before behaving in such a juvenile manner."

Her eyes narrowed, although she seemed disoriented. "How was I to know that you rigged the area, and even the sky, with a spider's web?"

He shook his head. "That's not the point. All manner of harm could have come to you while climbing a tree so quickly, in a dress, no less. I've promised to protect you, but I was hoping that I wouldn't have to worry much about defending you from your own rashness, child."

She took offense at the word. "If you think I'm a child, you should expect me to act like one."

He smirked. "If you act like a child, you should expect to be punished like one."

She blinked, then lowered her eyes. "I…can't argue against that. I apologize."

"And what do you apologize for?"

"Behaving recklessly."

He nodded. "And?"

She paused for a moment. "Speaking petulantly."

He sat down at her side, and softened his tone. "There's my good girl. Now, you needn't worry overly much about your punishment. It's already begun, and I'm sure you've noticed."

"The web?"

"Yes, dear. Avoid any kind of struggling, and it won't be anything more than slight discomfort. But the more you struggle, the more ensnared you will become and the longer your punishment will last. Do you understand?"

He could see her comprehension as it flew across her face like dawn. "Good. Then you know that there is one correct way to act in this situation and many wrong ways. I trust that you have already made your decision."

She sighed. "Yes, I have. I don't think you could have planned a more vivid analogy for my situation than this one."

She felt a gloved hand make contact with the top of her head, caressing it. "Just relax, and it will be over before you know it. In the meantime, I have an invention to show you."

She smiled faintly, and that was all he needed to continue. Less than a second passed of pure silence, until the sky exploded into marvelous color.

She couldn't help but smile fully. "Silent fireworks?"

He nodded.

"But can't everyone else see them?"

He stretched out onto the grass next to her, and turned her so that her head rested on his chest. "That's what the web was intended for…I invented it to block anyone from seeing anything of our picnic from the outside, which naturally meant I had to cover the sky to effectively plan a fireworks show for you. Your little stunt meant I had to repair it, but I don't believe anyone saw anything in the meantime."

They fell into a comfortable silence, and Erik could tell that Jennifer was enjoying the fireworks and relaxing as much as she was able. However, he could tell she was contemplating something. "What are you thinking about?"

"Hmm…I don't want to sound like I'm trying to be petulant."

"Then word it carefully, but I never want you to fear expressing your thoughts to me."

"You refer to me as a child, but sometimes…I can't quite place it, but I feel like sometimes you look at me in a way you wouldn't look at a child."

"You're right, but don't concern yourself about it. You're an intelligent girl, Jennifer, and sometimes I forget how truly young you are. Other times, you make your youth painfully obvious. With each day, you're walking away from your childhood towards adulthood. At times you behave as an adult, and at other times you behave like a child."

"Kind of like light? I'm both a wave and a particle, until you observe me. If you're looking for a particle, you'll find a particle, and if you're looking for a wave, you'll find a wave."

Erik smirked. "I did study your knowledge of light when I was in your mind, and that sounds apt. And now, I believe that you have come to understand what this punishment was meant to teach you."

The threads holding Jennifer had loosened, to the point where they were now slipping off of her with no effort from herself or Erik.

"Yes…I believe I have," Jennifer said, dumbstruck.

He helped her up, and held on to her arm as they walked back to their carriage.

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Hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed coming back to this story after so long. I'm extremely busy with my senior year of college, thesis, grad school apps, work, etc., but I will try to get up another chapter every now and then, and definitely will be able to get up a few chapters in December when I have the month off. Anyway, leave a review to let me know that you're still interested in the story, and thanks to Black Vampire of the Night16 for reminding me of this story and spurring me into action.


	33. Thoughts and Sleep

Jennifer was sitting on the divan in the Louis-Philippe room. She had attempted to read a book but found she was too lost in the thoughts swirling around in her head. She could hear Erik playing music she didn't recognize softly. She had enjoyed the picnic and the fireworks, and felt ashamed of how childishly she had behaved.

All the same, something was bothering her about her conversation with Erik in the carriage before the picnic. As she felt Erik's ring on her finger, she remembered. He had said that the ring had been on her finger and hidden with an illusion since after they had gone to visit the managers as a couple.

And yet, that had happened before the incident with the candles, when he had promised her that that was the first time he had used illusions on her. She wondered if he had just been trying to comfort her by not revealing the ring at such a bad time, or if there was something else he was trying to hide.

Anyway, Jennifer wasn't sure why he would feel the need to hide much of anything at this point. She was already his and there wasn't anything she could do about it. That was what the ring meant, after all.

Through the events of the day, she was coming to accept that it wouldn't be such an awful existence. It wasn't that far off from the life of a house-pet. In exchange for companionship, he would protect her from the world, feed her, teach her, take her on walks, and give her anything she wanted. Well, except freedom…but he said even that would be given to her eventually. She hoped that wasn't for a long time, since it meant Erik would be close to death.

This made her wonder how close Erik actually was to death. Was he really ill, or were his feelings that he was about to die just residual from his heartbreak over Christine?

Jennifer had just noticed that the music had stopped when she heard a knock on the door. Erik entered shortly after. He could see that she was holding back a tear. "Are you all right, Jennifer?"

"Just thinking… can we cuddle and talk about it?"

Erik nodded, pleased that she would ask for physical comfort from him. He sat on the divan and pulled her into a gentle embrace. He asked, "What are you thinking about, dear?"

"I was worried and wondering about you and your health. You said that you thought you were close to dying, and I was wondering why. If there's something killing you, couldn't you materialize some kind of medicine to cure it?"

Erik was a bit surprised at this and thought that she must have really begun to accept her lack of control of her situation if this was what worried her. He paused before answering, "It's more of a general feeling. Some days I feel like I could be gone a week from now. Right now, I feel like I have a decade…possibly more, even. Which outcome would you prefer?"

"Certainly not for you to die in a week! I mean…a decade here is difficult for me to imagine. But it's better than you dying."

He smiled and held her a little bit closer, and she nuzzled her face into his chest. "I can see you are having much less trouble accepting your lot than you were this morning. And of course a decade is not something you can easily imagine. You haven't even been alive for two yet. But only a few years from now, you'll be a woman, no longer a girl. You'll grow and blossom, and, if I can help it, I'll be there to witness that."

"I guess I am coming to accept things better. I've realized that it's not so different from being a pet dog, and dogs always seem pretty happy provided their master takes good care of them, as I'm sure you'll take care of me. But I have to wonder if it would be different…if I were a woman now, and not a girl…that look in your eyes sometimes frightens me."

Erik took his hand into hers and felt the ring on her finger. His voice was soothing, gentle but firm. "You've come to accept that this ring means that you are mine, in mind and in soul. Think of how much less frightened of this you are today than you were yesterday. In time you will come to accept that you are mine in body as well. I will be patient with you and will not force the issue- believe me, if I wanted to, you would be as helpless to resist me as you have been otherwise- but think of how _quickly_ you've come to accept everything else. If I'm still alive in a few years…I'll become your husband, in every sense of the word. If I could show you, somehow that by then these feelings of mine won't frighten you…may I kiss you?"

Jennifer was frightened by much of what he had said, but nodded her assent. If he had a point he wanted to make, she saw little point in putting it off. He tilted her face upward and pressed his lips against hers gently. She felt his tongue trace her lips and felt her mouth open, either of its own accord or by his order, but not through any conscious effort of hers. His tongue entered her mouth, somewhat more forcefully, and after an initial feeling of panic, she felt rather relaxed. She felt his body move on top of her as he did this, and noticed that he felt uncharacteristically warm. There was nothing for her to do but accept his tongue's explorations of her mouth, and once she did it didn't feel as scary as she had thought, although it still felt very strange. For a time she felt her thoughts leave her and it was almost as if nothing existed.

After what seemed like forever, he removed his tongue from her mouth, sat up and held her. She nuzzled into the familiar comfort of his chest and he stroked her hair gently. He whispered, "I'll always ask you first. That won't change, even later on, though if you prefer not to be aware during I can give you any pretty illusion you like…are you all right, Jennifer?"

"I think so…I can think again. It felt strange. But I'm sure you're right and I'll come to accept everything you want me to in time. Can you…just hold me until I fall asleep?"

That didn't take long, but Erik held her for a while afterwards, until finally he fell asleep as well.


	34. Sweet Dreams

Erik woke up with Jennifer still asleep in his arms. He was painfully aware of his arousal as it pressed into her back at the base of her spine. His dreams had been so _sweet_. He dreamt of her complete and willing submission to his every whim as they traveled together to any time or place he desired. As he recalled every detail of the fantasy, his bony fingers traced her lips and her neck, felt the bruises that were still present and marked his ownership, recalled the feeling of his tongue penetrating into her throat.

He knew he could make his dream become reality any time he wished. He struggled to regain his composure and resist temptation, but he knew he needed some form of relief. Jennifer wouldn't understand, perhaps…but was it not better to satisfy his desire rather than allow it to intensify and perhaps push him to do worse?

His fingers moved to fondle her breast over her nightgown, as he held her wrists above her with his other hand. His mind willed his own version of spider's silk into being, suspended from the ceiling, to bind her hands together at the wrists, freeing his other hand to caress her other breast. He thrilled at his sense of control, at her helplessness, as his arousal rose further. Not wanting her to wake up and be frightened, he placed a pleasant illusion of a dream into her head.

She was lying in a beautiful field full of flowers of every color, still blissfully asleep, as he traced a finger absent-mindedly along her ribs, her hips, then…oh! It was too far. He felt a wetness that he had not expected along with the one he did. He removed his finger from where it had strayed, upset and ashamed at the way he had allowed lust to overtake him. He released her wrists by removing the silk from existence and placed her alone on the divan to sleep in peace.

Erik's initial guilt dissipated as he watched her sleeping form breathe deeply. She was his in every way, after all, whether she was ready to accept that fact or not. Erik felt at peace, the tension relieved from his body and mind. He had a hope now that went beyond even what was possible in his dreams. He had assumed that her inability to _feel _lust would translate into an inability to experience physical arousal, but it now seemed that that assumption was mistaken.

Perhaps someday, with her consent, he could teach her that her body could experience pleasure even if her mind was incapable of desiring it. He could offer her an illusion, any illusion she wished, while leaving her fully aware of her body. He wanted to give her the same pleasure he had just felt, but knew that he had to be patient.

Watching Jennifer slowly wake up from her sleep made Erik feel like a god. And why shouldn't it? Didn't he have complete control over everything in her world? Didn't he promise to protect her from whatever might hurt her? Didn't he have control over her mind, matter, and even _time itself_? Erik realized that thinking he _had_ to be patient was far from true. In his kingdom in the cellars, he was as close to omnipotent as a mortal could be. He didn't _have to_ do anything- but he would _choose_ to be patient. After all, what were three years to a god?

Erik heard Jennifer scream in shock as he collapsed to the floor.

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Leave me a review to let me know that you're reading! It's a cliffhanger, so I will try to update again ASAP. I have a week left until I start orientation for my PhD program and hope to write as much as I can for this story in the meantime. Also, let me know if you think I should increase the story's rating to M. Thanks for reading!


	35. To the Future

Jennifer woke up just in time to see Erik collapse to the floor, and screamed in shock. She rushed over to his unconscious form, moved him onto his back and checked for a pulse.

She breathed a sigh of relief. It was there, but it was very faint. Her thoughts were racing with conflicting ideas of what she should do. Telephones and ambulances did not exist yet. Could she get him to a doctor quickly enough for them to be able to help, without knowing French or how to get around Paris? Unlikely.

She struggled to lift him off of the floor so that she could make it to the time machine, hoping that the restriction placed on her by the ring would not apply as long as he was physically with her. As soon as she got to the time machine, she activated it and they both entered the now-familiar whirlpool.

Jennifer clung tightly to Erik, not wanting to lose him, and focused on finding any time at all when she could clearly see a hospital in the images that blinked rapidly along the walls of the tunnel. The first opportunity she saw passed by too quickly for her to navigate over to it with Erik, so she began instead to move as close as she could to one wall of the tunnel. She tried several more times but found herself stuck to the ooze and fought to separate herself from it while keeping hold of Erik.

After some amount of travel, Jennifer succeeded in entering a hospital in a time not long after her own. She screamed for help and a nearby nurse heard her. The nurse saw that Erik was unconscious, and helped get him onto a stretcher and moving in the direction of the emergency room.

"How long has he been unconscious?"

"About ten minutes. I got him here as quickly as I could. He just…collapsed."

"You should have called for an ambulance. But for now you need to go to the waiting room and we'll do what we can."

Jennifer thanked the nurse and walked to the waiting room. She felt anxious for Erik and touched the ring on her finger as if to make sure it was still there.

The hospital seemed like it was not particularly busy, with only a few people in the waiting room. The television was set to the news and she realized that she must be in the future of 2005, because the president they showed was neither Bush nor any previous president she knew about. She was curious about how things had changed, but was really tired from exerting herself to transport Erik through time and fell asleep on the couch before she learned anything more.

She was awoken by a doctor and noticed that someone had draped a blanket over her while she had been sleeping.

"Your…well, I don't know how you're related, but he has regained consciousness."

"Oh! Will he be all right? And how long have I been asleep?"

"This is certainly a good sign, and it's been about twelve hours since you arrived here. He has had a heart attack and will need time to recover, but was very fortunate that you brought him here so quickly. He has been asking for 'Jennifer', whom I assume is you?"

Jennifer nodded, feeling giddy just knowing that Erik was still alive and conscious, and nodded. "Can I see him?"

The doctor nodded. "I'll show you to his room. Is he your father?"

Jennifer cringed, but nodded, knowing that the truth was too hard to explain and unable to think of a more suitable lie.

"I'm sorry. I know this must be difficult for you. It is lucky that you were able to get him here so quickly."

Jennifer nodded, and they reached his room. Jennifer sat down in the chair, and the doctor checked Erik's vital signs on the monitor and then left the room. Jennifer saw that Erik seemed very tired, and the look in his eyes seemed more confused than she had seen them.

Suddenly, she heard his voice in her head. "Why?"

"Erik?"

"Why did you bring me here? You could have been free."

"I…I didn't want to be. Not more than I wanted you to be alive, at least."

"That's more than I deserve. Thank you. I am also…reminded of how incredibly grateful I am for the mask you made for me. As uncomfortable as I am around strangers when I am incapacitated like this…at least I have this…"

"Erik…I am just glad that you are alive. And hopefully now that we know what is wrong, it can be corrected once we get home."

Erik smiled faintly when she referred to his cellars as home. "Yes. I am sure we will figure something out. So, is this the time you came from?"

"Not quite. This is after my time by at least a few years."

"I see. I will need to create the parts for a new time machine once I have recovered more of my strength."

Jennifer nodded. "That will probably take at least a few days. At least you can rest here where if anything else happens there are doctors who can help."

Erik nodded. "And now I know what it's like to be out of your own time. It does feel odd."

The nurse from before came into the room with a tray of food for Erik. She said that he should try to get some sleep before leaving the room.

Erik and Jennifer split the food, with Jennifer eating an apple and Erik eating most of the salad. Then Erik fell asleep peacefully with Jennifer holding his hand.


End file.
